


That's the Moral of the Story

by SwedishTaco



Category: Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator
Genre: Angst, Dadsona has long hair, Dadsona knows a Martial Art, Drunk Shinanigans, Eventual Smut, Friends to Lovers, Idiots in Love, Joint manipulation, M/M, Mild to Moderate Violence, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Smoking is bad kids, and wears Fancy Pants, get dunked on Joseph, ghosts are cannon, implied alcoholism, lots and lots of swearing, pain compliance, paybacks a bitch, seriously I hate him with a burning passion, that has a Uniform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:46:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 39,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24851032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SwedishTaco/pseuds/SwedishTaco
Summary: Mistakes get made, it happens to everyone. Sometimes you don't see the signs until its too late, and you learn a hard lesson. Wes was rapidly beginning to learn a harsh one as everything came crashing down around his ears. Any respect he'd gained in the neighborhood had gone out the window. He'd been warned, damnit he'd been warned, about the dangerous waters he found himself in. And what did he do? He ignored it, and look where it got him.Why didn't he listen to Robert?(AKA Taco can't write summaries for crap)
Relationships: Joseph Christiansen/Dadsona (past), Robert Small/Dadsona
Comments: 8
Kudos: 36





	1. You're Gonna Need a Bodybag

**Author's Note:**

> I'M THREE YEARS TOO LATE! Better to be late to the party then never show up at all I guess. Anyway, this story came about when I finished the 'good' Joseph ending. In my head, this is what my character did. Dadsona's appearance is vague on purpose, but he does have long hair. I tried to keep Dadsona's Art ambiguous, but you'll know which it is if you're familiar with it. I'll add tags as they come up. It's been a while since I posted anything so hopefully I haven't lost my touch. Please enjoy!
> 
> Any important chapter warnings will go here in the top notes.

He thought it was unreal, Joseph’s words drifting over him like a fog. The air felt thick, making it hard for him to breathe. He gave the barest of replies, hearing the words spoken to him but not completely processing. It felt like a nightmare. A nightmare of his own creation. He kept waiting to wake up, for it to be the previous day so he could go back and make sure none of this ever happened.  _ Why didn’t he just listen to Robert _ … 

Wes shouldn’t have been surprised, after all he’d had a fling with a married man. A man who apparently, decided overnight to stay with his wife. Could he really have been that fucking naive? Well, obviously he was, because here he was getting the ‘ _ haha yeah we fucked but we should just be friends lol :) _ ’ talk. And Joseph was being so casual about it too, like it was normal for this shit to happen. It’s not normal. 

It isn’t. 

Why didn’t he listen to his better judgment? How could he have missed all the red flags thrown in his face.  _ WHY DIDN’T HE LISTEN TO ROBERT? _

Something stirred deep within him. An ugly and venomous feeling that demanded retribution. It demanded justice. Wanted  _ revenge _ …this was not something to be taken lightly, or rushed. The more Joseph talked, the more the creature stirred, clawing up from his center, begging for release. It would be a decision that either enlightened him, or buried him, there was no middle ground. He hadn’t needed to make a decision like this in well over a decade, but… 

He’d made up his mind. 

Relaxing completely, he opened the box and let the dragon out. 

An unnatural calm came over him, and he let out a breath that cleared his mind. His body moved on autopilot, subtly moving into the other man’s space. He could feel the energy centering deep within him, yet he kept it at bay.  _ Just a little longer _ … 

“But hey, we’ll always have Margarita Zone.” Joseph said with a smile. The bastard had the audacity to  _ wink _ at him. Wink! “Take care, Wes.” He began to leave. 

He spoke up, catching Joseph’s attention, voice eerily calm and collected. “Of course…no hard feelings, yeah?” It was now or never. He extended an open hand to Joseph, a trap set as an invitation of peace. 

The youth minister smiled again, brighter this time, like he’d won some kind of prize. “See, I  _ knew _ you’d understand.” 

He forced himself to remain calm and relaxed, but was hard when his muscles wanted to coil in anticipation.  _ Keep it together _ …Then Joseph reached for his open hand. That asshole had taken the bait, and he was going to capitalize on that mistake. 

Moving with surprising speed and fluidity he trapped Joseph’s hand, locking it against his own wrist. His other hand curled over Joseph’s trapped wrist, torquing all the tendons in the man’s arm. With a sharp twist of his hips he cut the whole bundle to his center, and refused to let go. 

The desired effect was immediate. Joseph was surprised for a split second before his face contorted in pain, a yelp escaping him as he was brought to his knees. He weakly tried to pull away, but doing so only caused his arm to contort more, making the joint lock more painfully effective. He stopped struggling, looking up at Wes, agony stretching his features. 

It made the terrible side of him curl in delight. He had Joseph completely at his mercy, and he wasn’t feeling very benevolent at the moment. He took a step back, Joseph being forced to move with him if he wanted to keep his arm. Wes studied the man on the ground. 

When he spoke, his voice was low, calm with a cold edge. “I don’t appreciate being used.” 

“I-I didn’t –“ Joseph hissed in pain when the lock tightened. 

“Was I some  _ fucking game _ to you?” He resisted the urge to snap his hips and destroy Joseph’s arm. “I’m just a pawn in your get laid scheme? You get off on taking advantage of lonely people?” The comment was a bitter truth on his tongue. He had been lonely, but all the other dads in the cul-de-sac helped to quell the harshest part of it. And yet…And yet somehow this useless sack managed to disarm him, and get a strong grip on his neck. He’d realized too late that Joseph’s hands had already been squeezing the life out of him. 

“No, please – “ 

“ _ Shut up _ .” He hissed, baring his teeth at the prone man in front of him. “You don’t get to speak.” He was pleased when Joseph tried to shrink away from him, but realized he couldn’t due to the lock. It only twisted his arm more painfully. “I  _ know _ I’m not the first…” He watched Joseph’s eyes grow wide at that. He threw that out there to see what reaction he got. That was more than enough proof that this douche nozzle wasn’t worth the effort he was putting into holding him here, much less protecting his arm from total obliteration. “But I’m  _ damn sure _ I’ll be the last.” 

Joseph tried again in vain to escape, going so far as to try and hit him with his other hand. He simply bore down and curled his hand more around Joseph’s wrist, taking another step back. He heard a popping sound and Joseph let out a strangled sound of pain.  _ Good _ . “If I  _ ever _ , catch wind of you pulling this shit on  _ anyone else _ , you’ll have more than just a sore wrist to deal with. Do you understand?” 

Fear crossed those wide, tear shining eyes, yet he felt no sympathy for Joseph. 

“Wes -“ Joseph again tried to yank his arm free with only painful results. His free hand was fisted in the grass, as if looking for any purchase. It provided none. 

He cranked on the lock further, knowing that if much more force was applied he could cause serious damage to Joseph’s arm. He had to keep himself from wincing at the noise that Joseph made. While he wanted the man to suffer, destroying his arm was out of the question. He’d never go that far. Threats were fine as long as you had no plans to act on them…right? He pushed the thoughts aside. “I  _ said _ , am I making. Myself. Clear?” 

“YES!” Joseph cried, his body contorted to try and escape the pain being caused through his arm. “Yes, please...please…” It was disgusting to hear him  _ beg _ . 

Good enough. He released Joseph’s wrist, twisting with his hips to throw the man backwards. It wasn’t hard; Joseph had already been doing most of the work for him by pulling away like had been. He watched Joseph scramble back, cradling his wrist to his chest.  _ Was his wrist already bruising? _ It was certainly already swelling.  _ Guess he’s not used to receiving what he dishes out _ . He had to force himself not to smile at the thought. It was the least of what that bastard deserved…Alright, that was more than enough time to let him sit and wallow. 

He growled low in his throat, “Now  _ get the fuck off my property _ .” 

Joseph jumped at his tone, looking at him with wide eyes. He scuttled back a little farther, then made to get himself up, still holding his swollen and bruised wrist close. “I –“ 

“ _ NOW _ .” He snarled, tone demanding and leaving no room for interpretation. He stood his ground as an immovable force, watching Joseph stumble and hastily make his retreat through the fence gate. 

As soon as Joseph was out of earshot he let out a heavy breath. All the strength left his body and he slumped to the bench under the cherry tree. He held his head in his hands. 

_ What had he just done? _

“Whoa!” 

He lifted his head to see Amanda trotting over to him from the back door. Concern was clear in her features, and he hated he was the reason for it. 

“Pops, are you ok?” She asked, sounding more surprised than upset. 

He let out a heavy sigh, running a hand over his hair to smooth down the wisps trying to escape.  _ Get back in line you _ …truly it was no use, flyaways were called that for a reason after all… “No, kiddo, I’m really not.” He probably just destroyed his only chance to sweep everything under the rug and not be ostracized by the rest of the neighborhood. Was it too late to pack up again and move? It might be his only option, go out and be adventurous, live like a drifter or whatever. 

Ugh, living constantly on the run is overly romanticized by the movie industry and not remotely practical. 

He must have taken too much time to elaborate, Amanda taking a seat next to him. “I haven’t seen you that mad in…actually, I don’t think I’ve  _ ever _ seen you that mad.” Her voice was soft and thoughtful. 

He sighed in exasperation. How did he even formulate a response to that? “I’m more angry at myself than anything else…he just happened to be a convenient outlet...” And truly, he was. He was furious with himself for letting any of this happen in the first place. How had he missed all the signs that were right in front of him? They were blindingly obvious, looking back. “I  _ really _ screwed up this time, Panda.” Not only did he screw up royally, he probably fucked up  _ three  _ other people’s relationships. Robert hated him, Mary would never speak to him again and Joseph…well, he was probably going to call the cops and he’d be arrested. 

_ Fuck _ . “Oh,  _ god _ , I’m gonna get arrested. Your old man is going to be thrown in jail and labeled a criminal. You need to distance yourself from me as soon as you can. Change your name, leave the country. I’ll give you all the information to my bank accounts…” He groans, “Well, honey, it was great while it lasted.” 

Amanda laughed. At least someone thought the situation was funny. “You’re not going to get arrested, dad.” She patted his back and he was grateful he raised such a strong daughter. “It was  _ clearly _ self defense.” 

That gave him pause. “Wait, how much did you see?” If she saw the whole thing, she had to have heard it too. His stomach dropped to his feet in embarrassment, and he felt the warmth crawling up the back of his neck. Some role model he was, this didn’t send a good message about how to handle your problems. 

“Enough.” She said, dodging the question. She continued after a beat, “I saw him clearly reaching to grab you. You reacted appropriately against that threat.” Amanda shrugged, offering up no other explanation. She’d really gotten good at playing the innocent act. He was so proud of her. 

He breathed in deep and let the breath out slowly through his mouth, feeling the tension in his shoulders release. “Thanks, Amanda. You’re the best daughter a father could ask for. My favorite, actually.” 

“I’m your  _ only _ daughter, dad.” He could hear the eye-roll in her voice. 

“Doesn’t mean you still aren’t my favorite.” He leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on her temple. “Alright, kiddo, let’s get the rest of this party cleaned up.” 

“Ugh, do I have to? I’m the party girl, I shouldn’t have to clean up a party I didn’t even throw for myself!” She whined. “And I’m supposed to meet the Emmas soooooon. This is going to take forever.” 

He stood up and offered a hand to help Amanda up. She took it, but still didn’t look happy. “Amanda, sweet child of mine, light of my life, daughter I love most dearly in the world,” She groaned again, being over dramatic, “It won’t take that long. I’ll take care of putting all the leftovers away and cleaning, I’m just asking you to help me put away the tables and chairs, and any other flat surface furniture that doesn’t belong outside.” 

Amanda grumbled a little but started to help clean up. He moved all the food items inside first, bringing out the cleaning wipes to sanitize all the furniture surfaces. Amanda started folding tables and chairs once they’d been cleaned, and the moment they were put away he released her. She gave him a hug before heading out for more ice cream…apparently that huge cake just wasn’t enough for her. 

Once he had everything in the house, he turned on the TV for background noise while he put the leftovers away. Huh, looked like they’d be eating mac n cheese for the next week with the amount he stocked in the fridge. He packed up the last of the ice cream cake and put it back in the freezer. No doubt she’d be back after this, later tonight if not tomorrow morning. She really was her father’s daughter. 

He turned to the giant pile of dirty dishes he had created.  _ Ugh I don’t wanna _ …but the sooner he got them done, the sooner he could relax and maybe have the couch swallow him whole as he binge watched television. Seemed like it would be a better fate than having to live with his current mistakes. 

With little gusto, he began to tackle the dishes. Why did he have to choose a mac n cheese bar? This was the absolute worst idea he could have had. Yes, mac n cheese was delicious, but the last caked on bits were a bitch to scrub off. Even with the water running hotter than he would prefer, he needed a LOT of elbow grease to clean it off. Could this be considered a workout? He sure felt like he was using muscles he normally didn’t, well,  _ ever _ use. Somewhere deep inside, he knew he’d be sore from this in the morning. Man, he really needed to hit the gym more. That would make Craig happy, and he’d have more time to catch up with his bro. 

As he scrubbed at one of the cheese pans, his mind wandered into dangerous territory. An image of Joseph’s twisted face appeared in his mind. It made him wince, knowing the kind of pain he’d dealt out all too well. He’d been on the receiving end of that technique more times than he could count. His wrists ached just at the memory. He’d never had that kind of force applied on him before, so he could only imagine the agony the man was in right now. The kind of damage that he’d done to Joseph’s arm…he’d heard horror stories from older students of his Art about how one showboating student had their arm  _ wrecked _ by one of the Teachers… 

How could he have let himself snap like that? He was taught better than that, and he knew better too. God, his Art’s Mentor would be so disappointed in him…He let out a sigh, pausing his attempts to scrape solidified cheese from a corner. Was what Joseph did really worth  _ that _ punishment? Wes was as much at fault for what happened. He couldn’t put all the blame on his neighbor, even if he wanted to. 

_ Jesus, what the hell was I thinking? _ He  _ attacked _ his neighbor. No matter what Amanda said, it was an assault, plain and simple.  _ Fuck _ . He could go to jail, and/or get sued in court for physical and mental damages. He’d have to pay for Joseph’s medical bills, if there were any, and the judge would probably throw in extra for pain and suffering knowing his luck. He’d be ruined financially, he wasn’t exactly rolling in cash…especially with college tuition looming over him. 

He’d be sentenced for sure, thrown away like the criminal he was. He would be considered dangerous, probably have to spend his days in a straight jacket so there was no possibility of him causing trouble. How long would he be in jail for? Months? Years? Would he be able to see his daughter graduate college? Maybe he could get off early for good behavior. 

He’d been watching too many crime shows on tv lately. He hadn’t studied actual law since college, and he’d changed majors pretty quickly. 

There didn’t need to be  _ two _ lawyers in the family after all. 

He hissed when the water ran hotter and burned his skin, and he dropped the pan he’d been working on. Damn him for being distracted and on edge, believing the police were going to bust down his door any minute now. He immediately turned the water over to cold and ran his hand under the tap. His eyes darted to the clock. Surely if the SWAT team was going to blow his door off its hinges they would have done it by now? Maybe he was safe after all, and he’d been thinking too hard on it. Perhaps Amanda was right…or he needed to lay off the coffee and get more sleep. 

He muttered curses under his breath while the water soothed his hand. The burning in his hand only fueled the anger at himself. How did he allow this bullshittery to happen?  _ Why the fuck did I even go along with it to begin with? _ He could not for the life of him understand why he would do such a  _ stupid _ thing. He’d done some stupid shit in his life but  _ this _ ? This was beyond  _ fucked shit up _ . 

He’d slept with a married man and somehow in his twisted fucked up brain thought it would be totally cool, and nothing bad would come of it. That everything would work out in their favor…in  _ his _ favor. It didn’t even make sense now that he started thinking about it. He switched hands and turned the water back up, these pans still needed to be cleaned. 

He continued to think, finally making progress on the clinging, hardened cheese. Doing something like that…went against his nature. Something strange happened on that boat while they were stranded. He’d never thought of Joseph as anything other than a friend, but he wasn’t oblivious to his advances. Joseph had started to get pretty blatant about it. And yes, he could admit that Joseph was a handsome guy, but he wasn’t attracted to him. Never was. His interests lay…elsewhere. 

Not that it mattered. Even if Robert hadn’t hated him before, he’d ruined fuckall chance of that happening. He set another clean pan on the draining rack and reached for one of the stragglers, scrubbing it with more aggressiveness than needed. Yeah, he’d really done a number on  _ that _ relationship. If the betrayed anger at the pier hadn’t done him in, Robert’s muted, melancholy demeanor at the party would have. Wes was already smarting from that first confrontation, and when he talked to Robert today and the man showed nothing but anger towards him,  _ god _ …it wrecked him. Robert was like that because of  _ him _ . It was all his fault… 

He pursed his lips together and ignored the burning in his eyes.  _ Focus _ . Having that interaction clawing in the back of his brain didn’t help things when Joseph decided to ‘ _ let him down easy _ ’. He was furious with himself for destroying his friendship with Robert because of this shit, and Mary…just when he thought they might have been getting along, all progress he’d made was obliterated. And then  _ Joseph _ …he acted like they were  _ already _ in a relationship. It made no goddamn sense and he just…snapped. Rather than turning his frustration and hatred inward like he normally did, he’d channeled it all onto Joseph. 

He regretted it now. His behavior was unacceptable, and he’d take whatever comeuppance the Universe decided to dump on him. It was only fair for destroying three separate lives. He still couldn’t force himself to feel guilty about it though, only grateful he hadn’t taken it too far. One dumb decision and everything felt like it was collapsing around him. He wouldn’t be so dramatic as to say his life was over, but he’d made it significantly harder on himself to exist. He hadn’t been in the cul-de-sac that long, and he was already razing the peacefulness to the ground. Seemed like his history of being a screw up continued to follow him here. He guessed that’s all he’d ever be…a fuck up. 

A fuck up that was destined to be alone. Can’t seem to keep a relationship to save his soul. At least he still had Craig, and his daughter…though Amanda would be leaving for college at the end of summer, and once again he’d be on his own. 

It seemed fitting, his face twisting into a grimace at the thought. It didn’t matter. He couldn’t go back and fix what he’d done, as much as he wanted to. There was no way he could salvage the broken friendships he’d created either. The only thing he could do was accept what had been done, and move on. He might not be able to fix anything, but he could keep low and not cause any more trouble. 

He wasn’t sure how long it had taken him to finally finish the dishes. At  _ least _ several episodes of Chopped: Toddlers before he was done. Just as he was finishing up putting the clean dishes away, Amanda walked in the door, looking very much in the middle of a sugar coma. He tossed the towel in his hand onto the counter and entered the living room. “Looks like someone forgot their limits again.” 

Amanda swayed exaggeratedly on the spot, dramatically putting the back of her hand on her forehead. “Father, how could you accuse your beloved daughter of overindulging on the creamy ice?” 

Placing his hands on his hips he tried to look as upper crust as he could get in ratty jeans and an old tee shirt. “Because daughter, you didn’t have a chaperone with you! How could you betray your loving father this way? Tis a cruel punishment.” 

“Oh no, however will I be able to lift the shame I have placed upon my family?” She said sarcastically, crossing her arms. 

“It’s too late, the damage has been done.” He played up being ashamed and disappointed, cracking a smile. “Guess we’ll just have to live with the dishonor for the rest of our lives. Never leave the house again and forever order delivery.” 

Amanda made a point of thinking that over, then shrugged. “Sounds good to me! As long as you’re buying.” She winked and finger gunned passed him to her bedroom. 

He laughed, shaking his head. He didn’t give Amanda a hard time anymore, not after that one night, but he still felt much better when she didn’t stay out too late at night. Though, looking at the clock, 9:30 wasn’t exactly living dangerously. He heard music start to blast from her room, and he knew she’d be in for the night. He thought he recognized the band, what was the song called… _ Bodybag _ ? Seemed fitting for his current existence. 

Suddenly feeling exhausted, he flopped onto the couch, half watching the TV half zoning out. Today had been A Day. Now that he wasn’t busy, his mind once again wandered to places he would rather it not go right now. Amanda might have assured him that Joseph wasn’t going to press charges on him, but that didn’t stop his anxiety. He hated that he abused his knowledge that way in a split second of anger. It went against all the principals he was taught. 

His Art was for self defense, a way to peacefully settle a dispute that would otherwise have serious injuries. Well, as peaceful as you could get when you ‘help’ them to the ground. It’s the idea that you bring as little harm to your attacker as you can, no matter how violent they are. And he had used that knowledge to force a confrontation with Joseph. He let his head rest against the couch, closing his eyes and seeing the look on the man’s face. He never thought that he would be capable of causing fear in someone, yet here he was. His stomach dropped and twisted. He just kept digging himself deeper and deeper didn’t he? 

He pulled out his phone, shooting a quick message to Craig. 

To Craig :

_ Hey man! If I was to theoretically go to jail would you bail me out?  _

It didn’t take long to get a reply. Well, several replies. 

From Craig :

_ Bro!! Of course I would, you’re my dude!! _

_ Theoretically, I hope you at least had fun doing whatever it was to put you there!! _

_ Also that is an oddly specific thing to ask this time of night!! _

_ Everything ok?? _

He responded, doing his best to calm whatever fears Craig might have had. 

To Craig :

_ Its all good my man, no problems here. Just thinking too hard about something _ . 

His phone dinged almost immediately. 

From Craig :

_ Ok, don’t think too hard on whatever it is!! _

_ Don’t forget we r going for a run in 2 days!! _

He smiled, shaking his head. Oh boy, that was going to be a horrible experience. He’d agreed because Craig had given him the patented Khan puppy dog eyes that he just crumbled against. Damn Craig for knowing his weakness. He supposed the bright side was he was spending time with Craig again, they still had a great deal to catch up on. His old college bro had so much going on all the time, it was hard to pin the guy down. He just needed to make sure that Craig wasn’t spreading himself too thin, the man deserved better than to work himself into the ground. 

He was startled out of his thoughts by loud knocking at his door, more like banging rather than knocking really.  _ Jesus. _ He nearly jumped off the couch. He took a calming breath and the door rattled again with the force of whoever was behind it. If someone was breaking in, they were being really courteous about it. Or the police had finally showed up to arrest him. Whelp, time to face the music.  _ Alright, alright, I’m coming I’m coming _ … 

Standing from the couch, he unbolted the door before opening it, curious to find out who was trying to destroy his front door. He yanked open the door to give the person on the other side a piece of his mind, but froze as all the color in his face drained. Well…at least it wasn’t the police? But, this was also so much worse.  _ Oh fuck me _ … 

Staring at him from the other side of the doorway with his arms crossed, was Robert. He looked just as unimpressed and standoffish as he normally did. He also looked like he would rather be anywhere but here. He could tell that Robert wasn’t looking directly at him, but somewhere over his shoulder.  _ Ouch _ . He was grateful that Robert looked more put together than the last time they had a conversation. That had been…a  _ very _ bad day. 

“We’re going to Jim and Kim’s.” Robert grated out. 

Wes stared blankly at Robert for a moment, finally noticing Mary standing a little further back.  _ Hoo boy _ , she didn’t look happy to be here either. At least she was looking at him, but her hard glare was almost worse than being vaguely ignored. “Oh, uh…I…y’know it’s late, and I hadn’t planned on going out tonight, so I uh…um…I’ll pass?”  _ Why did that come out as a question, the hell is wrong with me?  _

This time Robert did look at him, and his gaze went right through him, he could practically feel it slicing like a knife. “It wasn’t a request.” Robert grumbled, a hint of threat edging his voice. 

_ This is how I die _ . Wes sighed, knowing there was no way he could back out of this. “Fine, just…give me a minute.” He went and turned off the TV, walking down to the hallway and called for Amanda. “Hey Panda!” 

“WHAT?” She called from her room, not bothering to turn her music down. 

“Sweetie it’s the feds, they’ve discovered my underground crime ring and are kidnapping me for questioning. If I’m not home by morning, call the police and have them search for my body!” 

“OK HAVE FUN! GIVE ‘EM HELL!” 

He smiled, grabbing his keys, wallet, and a jacket. Little does she know how serious he was being. This night really could end with him in a ditch somewhere…or worse, there wouldn’t be a body to be  _ found _ . 

He locked the door as he left, following Robert and Mary to Jim and Kim’s. All three were eerily quiet. It felt more like they were dragging him along, but it’s not like they really gave him a choice though, right? He didn’t understand why they forced him out when they wanted nothing to do with him. Both had made that painfully obvious. Maybe he could use this as a golden opportunity, have a chance to apologize to both of them. He couldn’t imagine them forgiving him, but he could at least tell them how sorry he was for…everything. 

It didn’t take them long to reach the bar, it was just down the street from where they lived. He took a stabilizing breath, and entered the building after Mary and Robert. He was immediately hit with the scent of booze and fried food, stale cigarette smoke wafted through the air. The two slid into a booth near the back where they wouldn’t be bothered. He gestured to Neil, and the bartender gave him three glasses of Whiskey, which he brought to the booth. He slid two to Mary and Robert, keeping one for himself and sat down opposite of them. He wasn’t ready to look at either of them, staring down into his drink. He could feel their eyes on him, but neither spoke or pressed him. Were they waiting for him?  _ Shit _ …he’ll just have to rip the band-aid off then. 

He took another deep breath to calm his nerves, but it wasn’t enough to quell his anxiety. When he first spoke, his voice wavered, but he pressed on and forced it to level out. “I owe you both a huge apology. There is nothing I can say to make anything that I did better…” Not the greatest start, but it was something. “I cannot express how sorry I am for everything that’s happened. Neither of you deserved any of this…it’s entirely my fault…” He still couldn’t bring himself to look at either of them, instead he fidgeted with the glass in his hands. “I know there’s nothing I can do to make it up to either of you, and I don’t expect forgiveness…I don’t deserve it.” 

He took the chance to glance up at them through his lashes. Robert was looking past him into the distance. His jaw was set, and his hand had a firm grip on his glass. Mary was looking down at the table, something flickering in her features, but he can’t make it out. She almost seemed…contemplative. 

“I just…wanted you both to know that. I never meant for any of this to happen. I never meant to…”  _ Ruin your lives _ , “Hurt you in that way.” Maybe he should just go, the atmosphere was starting to press down on him. He needed to leave. “I…I’ll go.” He moved to get out of the booth, leaving his drink untouched. 

He heard Mary sigh and he froze. 

“Wait.” She had her head rolled back and she scowled at nothing. After pursing her lips she groaned, motioning him to sit back down. She turned her frown to her drink before shooting it back. Mary then grabbed his untouched drink and shot that back too. 

_ Whelp _ . He raised his hand and caught Neil’s attention to bring over another round. 

Mary huffed, letting the shot glass drop to the table with more force than needed. “As much as I hate to say this, it’s not  _ entirely _ your fault.” 

Neil brought over the next round and left. 

Wes tried to counter her, “But I-“ 

“Yeah, you fucked up.” She said bluntly. “You fucked up  _ bad _ , but…my  _ husband _ ,” she spat the word out, “ …Is a master manipulator. He takes advantage of people, and he’s  _ good _ at it.” Mary grabbed for the new shot glass, about to shoot it back, but stopped and set it back on the table. Her frown was back in place, thinking “I don’t blame you completely for what happened, it takes two after all. If it hadn’t been you, it would have been some other poor bastard.” She flicked cold steely eyes at him, “But that doesn’t mean I’m not still pissed at you.” 

_ Yep, that’s fair _ . He sat there in disbelief. Mary seemed open to not hating him. Robert had yet to say anything, but he’d take what little progress he could get. He finally took a sip of the new drink in front of him, feeling the liquid burn down his throat. Its warmth did little to calm him, even if there might be a light at the end of the tunnel. 

Mary hummed, a mischievous smile curling her lips. “I would be willing to tan your hide a fraction less, if you tell me what happened after the party today.” She leaned a little farther over the table, gesturing to him with her drink. “You really put the fear of God in him, and I wanna know what you  _ did _ .” 

That also grabbed Robert’s attention. How would he have known that anything happened, did Mary tell him? She must have, the way Robert was watching him made that clear enough. He sighed, how did he explain that. Could he explain that? He looked down at his drink again, thinking. Well, might as well start with the truth. “I threatened him with severe bodily harm if he ever pulls this bullshit with anyone else ever again.” 

Mary snorted, while Robert muttered  _ bullshit _ under his breath. 

He furrowed his brows, his voice gaining a growling edge. “It was a better option than stabbing him in the face.” He then downed the rest of the liquid in his glass and pushed it aside. 

“Ugh,  _ fine _ , don’t tell us then.” Mary scoffed, leaning back against the booth seat. She sneered at him, “Guess you’ll just have to take your full punishment. Wes…” She dangled her empty glass as a taunt. “You can start with getting me another drink.” 

He shrugged, scooting out of the booth. It didn’t matter if they believed him or not, he knew the truth. “Ask him about his right wrist, then.” He took a moment to smooth down his jacket as Mary gave him a bewildered look. “I assume you want your usual?” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Robert watching him. Something in that look told him that he believed him. That was good enough for him. He took his leave of the booth, no longer feeling the need to run out of the bar. He had a brief conversation with Neil as he poured Mary’s glass of wine. Neil was a good guy, Robert was right. There needed to be more guys like Neil in the world. 

Wine in hand and a beer for himself, he settled himself back into the booth, setting the wine glass in front of Mary. Robert still looked like he’d barely touched his first Whiskey, much less started on the second. Huh, that was a little odd. It wasn’t unusual for Robert to match shot for shot with Mary, most of the time leaving Wes under the table by the time the two were done. He decided not to ask, he liked living after all. 

It took some time, but it wasn’t long before Mary was telling another one of her bake sale stories that had Robert in a fit of giggles. He laughed with them, genuinely enjoying the story. Man, those PTA moms were  _ crazy _ . He felt so relieved that he never had to deal with that when Amanda was in elementary school. Mary seemed to thrive in that kind of environment however, he had no doubt she was a terror and took no shit from any of them. 

Several rounds and many stories later, he decided to call it a night. He stood from the booth, grunting as he stretched out his back.  _ Damn my old man spine _ . “I’m gonna call it a night. It’s been…” The hell did he even describe this outing as? Kidnapping? An intervention? Conspiracy to commit murder? “…a night.” Nailed it. 

Mary’s lips curled into a smirk, “See ya around, Sailor.” She gave Robert a shove, letting him know she wanted out of the booth. Mary didn’t sound like she had any intention of quitting, already having a mark in her sights. She brushed Robert out of the way once he’d stood up, sashaying over to a lone gentleman at the bar. Poor boy had no idea what was coming for him. 

He zipped up his jacket, knowing that the chill outside would have settled in by now. He headed for the exit, jumping slightly when he felt Robert’s presence close behind him. 

“Heading home?” Robert asked in a gruff voice, shoving his hands in his pockets. 

“Yeah.” He said without thinking. 

Robert nodded, like he’d made his mind up about something. “I’ll walk with you.” Without another word, he left the bar. 

Hesitating for only a moment, he trotted to the exit to catch up to Robert. That was unexpected. The night was still relatively early, he figured Robert would go off and do…whatever it was Robert did late at night. It was almost surreal to be walking back to the neighborhood with the man next to him. Considering what happened between them, it was a miracle that Robert even wanted to be in his proximity. Whatever had made Robert walk home with him, he was grateful. This whole day had been nothing but stressful and filled with anxiety for him. 

Walking home with Robert was surprisingly calming. The silence wasn’t oppressive, it never had been with him. He’d learned that early on when they started hanging out. He hoped that with a little time, things could go back to normal between them. However, he knew better than to hold onto that sliver of hope with white knuckles. He couldn’t control Robert, and if he decided it wasn’t worth patching up what little of a friendship they had, Wes wouldn’t push it. After all, he was the one who’d fucked up, not Robert. 

Almost on autopilot, the two of them slowed down in front of Robert’s house. This was a familiar scene, and it reminded him of the first time they’d met at Jim and Kim’s. He looked to Robert to say his goodnights, but stopped when he saw the look on Robert’s face. It looked like he wanted to say something, but was trying to decide if he should speak or not. The silence around them started to grow thick, becoming uncomfortable for him. He shivered against the cold, hugging his jacket closer to himself. He was about to say screw it and go home when Robert spoke, startling him from his thoughts. 

“Do you want to come in?” 


	2. Theripy is Overrated When You Have Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for this chapter include heavily implied dubcon from past events and talk about dadsona being drugged.

_ “Do you want to come in?” _

He stared at Robert, wondering if he heard the man right. His mind raced for something to latch onto, trying to read him. Robert wasn’t looking at him, his hands stuffed into his leather jacket. His features were unreadable, much like they always were, but his posture…that didn’t look like the confident posture Wes was used to seeing. It was uncharacteristic of Robert to look, what was it, anxious? He couldn’t remember seeing this before, this hesitancy. What the fuck was his game? Something struck a chord in him, realizing this was very similar to the first night they met. Oh, no…oh  _ hell _ no. 

Wes pressed his lips into a thin line, crossing his arms in front of him. He took a shaky breath, the words falling from his mouth. “Seriously? I’m  _ not _ in the mood.” He averted his eyes, glaring at the ground. “Plus you never struck me as a sloppy seconds kind of guy…” That came out far more bitter than he intended it to. He shifted his weight, feeling incredibly uncomfortable now. It still fucking hurt what happened at the pier, and he wasn’t about to let Robert know how much it had affected him. 

Robert’s eyes snapped to him, his composure temporarily broken. He shook his head, the emotions gone from his face in seconds. “Not like that.” Letting out a sigh, he pinched the bridge of his nose before running a hand through his hair. “That’s…not what I meant.” Robert crossed his arms, also looking elsewhere. It took him a moment before he tried again. “I…was hoping we could have a drink, and maybe…talk?” 

He thought Robert’s words sounded confident enough, but his posture said otherwise. But…they really did need to talk. Robert said next to nothing to him at the bar, and he got the feeling there was a reason for that. If his suspicion was correct, it sounded like Robert wanted to have a private conversation with him. 

Wes let out a heavy sigh, finally feeling himself relaxing a little. He hadn’t realized how tense he was before his shoulders loosened. He rolled his head and rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, alright…I think that’s a good idea.” 

Without another word, Robert nodded once and walked to his front door, unlocking it and holding the door open so Wes could come inside. He closed and locked the front door while Robert busied himself in the kitchen. Shrugging off his jacket he left it on the hook by the door, and barely had enough time to feel fear creeping up his back when he heard claws scratching against the hardwood floor. He forced himself to turn around and face his own death at the jaws of an ex-dog fighting pit bull, the black and white blur coming towards him at full speed. 

But then…he didn’t get knocked over or even bitten. Looking down he found the dumbest, most adorable looking Boston terrier he’d ever seen in his life. She was standing on her back legs, pawing at his shins for attention. A nervous laugh bubbled from him as he bent down and gave the dog the lovin’ she clearly deserved. 

“Betsy!” Robert hollered from the kitchen, the little dog soon abandoning Wes to go to her dad. She ran around his feet, looking as happy as she could be. Robert had to pay close attention to where he stepped so he wouldn’t trip over her. “Betsy, place.” Robert ordered, pointing to her dog bed. With no arguments, she trotted to her bed and curled up in it, still looking pleased with herself. Robert huffed, bringing a bottle and glass of Whiskey with him to the coffee table. 

While Robert was busy with Betsy, Wes decided to grab one end of the couch, settling himself into the corner. As Robert came around the table to the other end of the couch, he set his Whiskey down and grabbed something from behind his back, bottle still in hand. He noticed that it was one of the ciders that he once mentioned he liked. When did Robert get those, and why did he still have them? He figured Robert would have tossed them by now, since he didn’t drink them stating they were too sweet for his refined palate. 

He watched Robert pull a knife out from his leather jacket and used the not pointy end to pop off the bottles top, before handing it to him. He took the cider with a grateful hum, rolling his eyes when he got a better view of the knife Robert had. “Of course you would have a karambit with a bottle opener in the ring...” He chuckled, taking a sip of his drink. “Why am I not surprised.” He let himself sink into the couch. Robert had good taste, this was a  _ very _ comfortable couch. He almost hated himself for being jealous of Robert’s nice couch. 

He needed to get a better couch. 

With the karambit once again hidden away in the enigma that was Robert’s leather jacket, he took it off and threw it onto the other couch, letting it land where it may. Robert flopped down on the other end of the couch, mirroring Wes' posture and leaning into the corner. He retrieved his Whiskey and sipped on it, before holding it in his lap. Robert was looking intently into the glass and didn’t appear to want to start…whatever conversation they were supposed to be having. 

Well, Wes certainly wasn’t going to start one, and he knew better than to try small talk.  _ Heh _ . Taking another sip of his drink and appreciating the crisp refreshing taste, he decided to take in his surroundings. It looked about the same since he was here last with Craig.  _ Man, that was a weird night _ . 

Now that he wasn’t currently fearing for his life he could appreciate Robert’s home more. He did feel concerned with the amount of stray liquor and beer bottles strewn around, but he wasn’t going to tell the man how to live his life. That most certainly wasn’t his place, and he didn’t want to get stabbed. The little succulents on the coffee table looked bright and healthy, and it made him smile.  _ Robert takes care of tiny house plants, that’s cute _ . There was still a lot for him to learn about Robert…if there was any way they could recover from what happened. He certainly wasn’t going to hold out hope for that. 

Feeling himself relax a little more, he leaned his head back and closed his eyes, breathing deep and letting it out slowly. He felt Robert shift on the couch, expecting him to say something, but the silence remained. Since Wes started hanging out with Robert, he’d gotten a great deal more comfortable with silence. Well, silence between two people anyway. He still didn’t like the silence when he was by himself in the house. He’d have to have some kind of background noise when Amanda went off to college, he’d gotten used to the house being at least a little noisy. He was startled out of his thoughts when Robert spoke. 

“I…shouldn’t have treated you the way I did at the pier…you deserve more respect than that.” Robert took another sip of his Whiskey, his gaze somewhere on the floor. 

Wes waited for Robert to continue, but he didn’t say any more. Was that his attempt at an apology? It almost sounded like one, save for the part where he actually said  _ I’m sorry _ . He huffed, not sure what he was really expecting. It certainly wasn’t forgiveness. 

“Yeah, that was pretty shitty.” He watched Robert’s eyes snap to him, a dangerous look in them, “But damn if you weren’t right.” He took a longer sip of his cider, focusing on a spot on the wall in front of him. “I should have listened to you, I should have  _ trusted _ you, instead of blowing you off.” He sighed, dropping his gaze down to the cider in his lap. “And I’m sorry. I  _ really _ am. I should have treated you better too, but, I just…I don’t know.” 

He huffed, taking a chance to look at Robert, hoping the man could read him and know that he wasn’t bullshitting. Robert wasn’t looking at him, instead he was looking down at the couch with a slight frown. His brows were knit, and he knew that meant Robert was running something through his head. He could only imagine what was going on inside Robert’s mind. 

Sucking it up, he continued, hoping he might get a few answers. “It felt like what happened that day came way out of left field. I didn’t understand what was happening, or why you would have been acting that way, and…I reacted poorly.” He looked back at his drink, swirling the liquid around in the bottle. “I just figured you’d had a little too much to drink or something.” He could feel Robert’s penetrating stare, and it made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. 

Robert set his Whiskey down on the coffee table so he could cross his arms in front of him. Robert was almost scowling at him, his mouth pressed into a thin line. “Really? You’re trying to tell me you had _no_ _idea_ why I was there that day.” 

He looked at Robert, his brows knit together. “I figured you were trying to protect me from him, but…I wasn’t really sure  _ why _ .” 

Robert’s eyes bored into him. “You can’t honestly be that dense…” When he didn’t get a reaction other than confusion, he let out a clipped laugh, but there was no humor in it. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” 

“What?” He asked, becoming more confused by the second. What the hell was Robert talking about. Robert acted like it should have been the most obvious thing in the world, but he had no clue what he was referencing.  _ Ok, think _ …what did Robert say that day, there was some serious context he was missing. He wracked his memory trying to find that one little piece that made everything make sense. He remembered Robert being very agitated, but…that wasn’t entirely it. Robert was also…distraught? He thought that was the right word for it. Robert was smoking like nobody’s business, he’d never seen him go through a cigarette that fast since knowing him. All of those added up to a pissed off Robert, but that’s not what the man was getting at.  _ What am I missing?  _

He made a frustrated noise, rubbing a hand down his face. It must have been something Robert said to him. He couldn’t remember everything that was exchanged between them that day, it all just kind of blurred together. “Robert, I don’t know what you’re talking -” He cut himself off, something Robert said floating into his mind. ‘… _ I don’t want him around you. _ ’ The way Robert said it to him, he remembered it now. He was too worked up to understand it at the time but thinking about it now… _ oh. Oh shit. _ “I -” His eyes just about bugged out of his head and he looked at Robert with a slack jaw. “ _ What? _ ” 

Robert wasn’t looking at him. His arms were still crossed and he almost looked curled in on himself. Robert’s jaw was clenched, the muscles jumping at random. His demeanor screamed anxiety, and he was already starting to close himself off to the blow he thought was coming. 

_ Holy fucking shit _ . Robert  _ liked _ him…and in a more than friendly way. He was having a hard time processing, but he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t just a little giddy about it. God, he really did fuck up. He hoped by the end of the night they at least had something salvageable of their friendship at the very least. Then something occurred to him, and he couldn’t stop from blurting out his thought. “I thought you  _ hated _ me!” 

That caught Robert’s attention. “What?” Robert’s face screwed up in confusion. “Why would you think I hated you?” He asked like it was the most asinine thing he’d ever heard. Robert caught his eye, searching his face for an answer. 

Wes sighed, taking another sip of his cider and sinking into the couch. He closed his eyes for a moment before groaning in frustration. “Maybe because you acted differently towards me when other people were around?” He huffed, looking away from Robert. “When we would hang out on our own, it's almost like you were a different person. More open and less…stabby. When we would hang out with people from the neighborhood, it felt like you were embarrassed by me being there. It’s like you had to have your front on all the time, and I got swept up in the chaos, and not in a good way. I got tired of the whiplash between Robert the god damn Enigma, and Robert the human being. And that dinner with Craig…it just kinda solidified it for me.” He slowly rolled the cider bottle between his hands, looking out the window. “I know you weren’t planning on me coming, and I still blame Craig for that, but…while you weren’t openly hostile towards me, I could tell you didn’t want me there. You made that obvious enough.” 

Robert let out a long breath, uncrossing his arms and grabbing for his Whiskey, drinking most of it in one gulp. “Christ…I didn’t realize…” He swirled around the remaining liquid, somberly looking at it. “I assumed we were on the same page, considering how…close we had gotten.” Robert let the ice clink against the side of the glass as his expression turned into a scowl. “So, what…you just give up and go after Joseph?” 

Wes groaned, letting his head flop back against the couch. “No, it’s not…it wasn’t like that…” He struggled putting what he was feeling into words. Throwing himself back into the mindset he was in over a month ago was…difficult to say the least. “Robert…” 

“You could have hung out with anyone else.  _ Literally anyone else _ .” Robert pressed on, not accepting his answer. He was growing more agitated. “But no, you had to go with  _ Joseph _ .” 

“Because he gave me the fucking time of day!” Wes snapped. He swallowed thickly, trying to tamp down the flare of anger that had risen. At least he had Robert’s full attention now, the man blinked owlishly at him. He puffed out a heavy sigh, running a hand over his hair. “Outside of Craig, he was the only person who seemed like he  _ wanted _ to get to know me.” 

“What about me?” Robert’s hackles raised. “ _ I _ wanted to get to know you.” 

He looked exasperated at Robert, “So you ghost me for days, sometimes over a week at a time? I sent you multiple messages that went ignored and unanswered. Is that how you get to know someone?” He watched Robert flinch at that, and felt bad for hitting some kind of sore spot. He tried to force himself to relax, getting tense wouldn’t help anyone. “Sorry…When he contacted me, I genuinely thought that he was just being friendly. That he was trying to be a good neighbor to the new guy type deal. Fat lot of good that did me, I never thought…” His tone turned bitter. “I can’t believe how… _ stupid _ I was...” His voice dropped to barely a whisper. “I should have trusted you.” 

Robert was quiet, his gaze distant. He’d managed to get his mask back in place after being caught off guard. Eventually, Robert let out a sigh, finishing off the last drops of his drink, standing up and heading to the kitchen for a refill. “It was never my intention to make you feel unwelcome. You…” He trailed off, capping the bottle he’d just poured from. “Do you want another one?” 

“Nah, I’m good. Thanks though.” He watched Robert pad back to the couch and flop into his spot on the other end. So, Robert pushed him away without meaning to, it just…happened. There was a severe lack of communication on their parts and it became…disastrous. At least it seemed like Robert was dropping the subject. Feeling the heavy atmosphere weighing on him, he tried to lighten the mood. “Well, you know what happens when you assume something, right?” 

“Hm?” Robert hummed his response as he sipped his refreshed drink. 

A smile curled the edge of his lip. “It makes an ass out of you and me.” 

Robert groaned, his head falling back against the couch. “I regret letting you into my house. Get out.” As much as he tried to hide it, there was the barest hint of a smile on his face. Robert settled himself more comfortably on his couch, his tone becoming serious again. “I’m not the best with words, or expressing myself or…” Robert pressed his lips together in a thin line, thinking. “Anything normal people are used to doing, I guess. But…I’ll try.” He took another sip of Whiskey, planning out his thoughts. “I don’t hate you, never did. I consider you a good friend, and I haven’t had one of those in a long time. I’m…pissed about what happened, but my anger lies more with  _ him _ than it does you.” Robert made a point to look at Wes, showing him that he was being honest. “And…I’m sorry.” 

Wes almost couldn’t believe what Robert was saying, and his immediate response was faster than his brain could process. He scoffed, looking away from Robert. “You don’t need to apologize to me, I should be the one groveling at your feet for what happened.” His eyes focused on the drink in his lap again. “Honestly, I don’t know how you can stand to be around me after what I did…” He could feel Robert watching him, but he didn’t dare look up. 

Robert was quiet, the only sound from him was the ice clinking against the sides of his glass. “I hadn’t planned on it…” he started, speaking carefully. “I was furious with you, I wasn’t sure if I could even talk to you again. Not after…” Robert sighed, taking a sip of his drink to give him time to think. “Then Mary calls, bitching about how Joseph stayed behind after everyone had left to talk to you. She was pissed that it was taking so long, since he promised her it would be quick…” Robert glanced at him for a moment before continuing on, “Anyway…she’s in the middle of dragging you when I hear the door open and she cuts off. I don’t know what happened with them, Mary disconnected the line. Next thing I know, she’s banging on my door.” 

“That’s how you knew something had happened.” Wes murmured, “I figured she must have told you, but I wasn’t sure.” 

Robert nodded, “The way she was describing what happened, it was unreal. Joseph came into the house, cradling his wrist to his chest and when he caught sight of her, it’s like he had seen a ghost. Mary’s words, not mine.” He relaxed back against the couch, propping his drinkless arm across the back. “She said she’d never seen him so freaked out before, he was literally jumping at every little sound. Since you were the last one he talked to, you obviously had to have done… _ something _ .” 

He winced, knowing the after affects of what he did were far different than thinking what would happen. He’d just planned on saying some empty threats, and make him mildly uncomfortable. Sounds like he did far more damage than he was planning on. He rubbed his temple, feeling drained. “So what was the original plan? Get me drunk and drag me deep into the woods where they’d never find the body?” He was trying to play it off, but it wouldn’t surprise him if that had actually been the case. 

Robert cocked his head to the side, “Well, it wasn’t  _ off  _ the table…some of the other options included cutting you up into bits and feeding you to the local strays, or leaving you for the Dover Ghost…maybe even stringing you up as a warning to anyone who might cross us.” 

That had him snorting, shaking his head. “Well, seems like any of those would be fitting…” He attempted to keep the bitterness out of his voice, but it still leaked through. 

Robert frowned, his features reading contemplation. “Well, too bad for you, we decided to spare you.” He sipped the last of his Whiskey, setting the empty glass aside on the coffee table. “…For now.” 

He sighed, a small smile tugging at his lips. “I’ll take what I can get.” Ok, so it was Mary that told Robert what happened. That still didn't explain their actions by taking him out to the bar. “What made you two show up to my house late into the night? Sounds like you could have kidnapped me earlier.” 

“There were some… _ disagreements _ .” Robert huffed crossing his arms again. “We eventually compromised on intimidating you to go to Jim and Kim’s, and see what happened from there.” 

He raised an eyebrow at that but didn’t ask for clarification. Something told him that he  _ really _ didn’t want to know what plans they could have been arguing about. He was just glad he came out of it more or less unscathed. “Was inside your home part of the plan?” 

Robert huffed, leaning back and looking at the ceiling. “Not part of ours, no. Hell, it wasn’t even part of mine until you decided to leave.” He ran a hand through his hair, closing his eyes for a moment. Robert didn’t continue for several minutes, and he figured he wasn’t planning to either. “But…I’m glad I did.” 

He nodded in agreement. “Yeah, me too. I think it was good for both of us.” He still wasn’t sure where this left them though. Were they still friends? Was Robert willing to try and repair their shattered friendship if they weren’t? He could feel the anxiety creeping in on him again with the uncertainty. He didn’t want to ask outright, but…he  _ needed _ to know before he left where they stood. Otherwise he’d go back to being in that weird limbo with Robert that he didn’t want to be in again. 

Robert hummed, turning his attention to him. “I do have a question, though…” 

Curious, he looked at Robert, his thoughts having been disrupted. “Shoot.” 

“Were you really going to stab Joseph in the face?” Robert was watching him with interest, a playful glint in his eye. 

He had raised his cider to his lips, but stopped when he snorted. He was grateful he hadn’t taken a drink, knowing all too well how painful it was for alcohol to get up his nose. “It had certainly crossed my mind. But I figured that would be too messy and there would be no plausible deniability.” This time he did take a sip of what little of his cider remained. “Besides, the knife you gave me deserves better than to be contaminated like that.” 

That caught Robert by surprise. “You still have it?” 

Something in Robert’s tone gave him pause. Had he really expected that he’d get rid of it after what happened? “Of course. Never leave the house without it.” He said honestly with a shrug. 

Robert’s expression was unreadable. There was something behind the man’s eyes that he wasn’t familiar with. It was subtle, but he could see a genuine smile. A second passed and the look was gone. “So if you didn’t stab him, what the hell did you do?” 

Oh boy, he knew this was going to come up again eventually. How did he go about explaining this? Maybe start simple and go from there. “Truthfully?” He wasn’t expecting a response, but Robert nodded anyway. “I put him into a joint lock.” 

“Bullshit.” Robert repeated what he said at the bar. “I don’t believe that for half a second.” 

He shrugged, a smirk plastered on his face. “It’s the truth.” He might not want to admit it, but he was having fun playing with Robert like this. He was being completely truthful with him, and having Robert call bullshit was entertaining. He should have known what was coming next, and he kicked himself for not thinking that far ahead. 

“Show me.” Robert was looking at him, searching for any sign that he was bluffing. It wasn’t an order, but it was close. 

“Um…” He had to avert his eyes from Robert’s intense gaze, unable to hold it. Why didn’t he see this coming? Of  _ course _ Robert would want to know exactly what he did. This was why he never talked about his Art, everyone always wanted him to show them something, and he just…couldn’t. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” 

“What are you afraid of, hurting me?” Robert grated. When he got no response he groaned. “C’mon, I’m not fragile. How bad could it be?” 

Wes snapped his eyes to Robert, completely serious now. “It  _ will _ hurt, that’s the whole point of pain compliance.” He tried to drive the point home that this wasn’t going to be a pleasant experience for Robert. He wouldn’t take it to the extent he had with Joseph, sure, but it was still going to suck. “It has nothing to do with how strong you are, Robert.” 

Robert scoffed, still not believing him. “I’ll decide that for myself.” 

Robert might be cocky now, but he knew that wouldn’t last. Finishing his cider, he placed the empty bottle on the coffee table. He gave Robert a serious look, leaning forward. “Alright. What’s your pain tolerance?” 

The other man was shocked for a brief moment, but it quickly disappeared. Robert smiled at him, but it was challenging and maybe a little…flirty? “I don’t shy away from pain, babe.” Yep, that was flirty alright. 

_ Bastard _ . Robert was really asking for it. Wes decided to take up the challenge, knowing that Robert’s posturing wouldn’t last long. He stood from the couch, motioning for Robert to do the same. He took a small step towards Robert, getting into his personal space. Wes turned to face him, and offered both of his wrists to Robert, “It’ll be easier to show you if you grab my wrist. Choose wisely, I suggest whichever hand you don’t value more, then grab my wrist opposite to yours.” He was going to do this the right way, slipping back into the role of teacher. His voice was calm, yet firm, allowing no room for argument. 

Robert seemed a little taken aback by his change in demeanor, not ever having seen Wes this way before. Hesitating only for a moment, Robert reached out with his left hand, and grabbed Wes’ left wrist. Robert watched him closely, waiting for whatever was going to happen.

He nodded, feeling Robert’s tense grip. “I’m giving you one last warning about it being painful.” He cautioned, feeling his own body relaxing with what he was about to do. “I’m going to go slow, ok?” 

Robert rolled his eyes, “Just get it over with already, the suspense is  _ killing _ me.” He grumbled sarcastically. He didn’t seem at all convinced that this was going to work on him. 

Whelp, no help for it then. Robert was going to find out the hard way that he’d made a grave mistake. 

Taking a stabilizing breath, Wes went through the same motions with Robert as he did with Joseph. He was slow and calculating, trapping Roberts hand against his own wrist and settling his weight to give him the leverage that he needed. He watched as Robert’s attention snapped to him as the other man felt himself shifting forward. Curling his grabbed hand over Robert’s wrist, he started to scoop over, watching Robert’s face intently for the first sign of pain. He could feel the tendons in Robert’s arm start to torque.  _ Just a little more _ … 

Going this slow, he could better pinpoint Robert’s breaking point and it was right about… _ there _ . He saw the flicker of surprise just before it turned to pain. The shock must have been severe, since Robert’s legs gave out from under him from that one tweak of pain. He went down to his knees with Robert, already starting to massage the abused wrist with his thumbs. 

“The  _ fuck _ ?” Robert breathed, confusion clear in his features. He was staring down at his wrist, looking almost betrayed. 

He gently worked around Robert’s wrist, trying to ease any lingering discomfort Robert might be feeling. He chuckled, looking at Robert through his lashes. “I did warn you.” As he rubbed at Robert’s skin, he selfishly enjoyed the contact. He already knew Robert had strong hands, that was easy enough to see, but he was surprised at how soft the man’s skin was.  _ Ok, you’re toeing the creepy line _ … 

Robert grumbled, looking away. “Yeah, ya did. Still didn’t believe it.” Robert positioned himself better on the floor, resting his free hand in his lap. “I don’t understand though…I can’t feel the pain anymore, why was Joseph so much worse?” 

He continued to rub little circles into Robert’s wrist. He was surprised Robert hadn’t taken his hand back by now. Maybe he was enjoying the contact? He hummed, acknowledging the question. “Well, I was gentle with you -” 

“That was  _ gentle _ ?” Robert squawked, clearly taken aback. 

He sighed, rolling his eyes. “Yes…as soon as I saw that flash of pain, I let you go.” His thumbs slowed down, eventually stopping as he thought about earlier in the day. “But with Joseph…I…I didn’t let go. When he dropped, I… _ bore down _ on him.” It went against everything that he had been taught. Yet, he did it anyway, wanting Joseph to feel as much pain as possible. Without realizing it, he’d let Robert’s hand drop, his own limp in his lap. 

In front of him, Robert huffed. “Bastard deserved it.” He was gently touching his wrist with his unharmed hand, watching him closely. 

Wes sat back a little, his lips pressing into a thin line. “Did he though?” The question slipped from his lips before he had a chance to fully think it through. 

“ _ What? _ ” Robert looked at him like he was crazy. 

Picking at a stray thread on his pants, he considered his answer. “Who’s really more at fault here: the married man who wanted to have an affair, or the guy who went along with it willingly like a fucking idiot?” He waited for a moment for Robert to respond, but only received silence. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” The silence continued to stretch out, the two of them sitting in front of each other on the floor. He knew the silence wasn’t anything bad with Robert, but it was starting to eat away at him. He nearly jumped when Robert spoke up. 

“When you went to meet him, were you expecting to be out all night?” Robert asked simply. 

The question caught him off guard, and he had to take a moment to process it. “No?” 

“Were you ever under the impression that going out on his boat was more than an outing between friends?” Robert continued on. 

“Wha- I…no…” Why was Robert asking these questions, what was even the point? What’s done was done. He fidgeted, knowing Robert would be able to tell if he was hiding anything. The truth was, he didn’t want to. Not now. “Not…not at first anyway. I think I started getting an idea after we got stranded and he sent me down for wine, but…I ignored it.” 

Robert made a noise in the back of his throat before pressing on. “Did you plan on having sex with him?” 

“No.” That answer came more readily to him, but he still didn’t see where any of this was going. What did it matter what he knew was going to happen or not? It happened, end of story. He hugged his legs to his chest, dropping his head down on his knees. “But I didn’t stop it either.” He tagged on the end, voice muffled. 

“Why didn’t you?” The tone had him looking at Robert. His face was unreadable and blank. A carefully crafted mask of indifference plastered over whatever he was really feeling. “You could have fought him off…stopped him from touching you.” 

Wes found himself drawing a blank, grasping at straws for an answer. The way Robert had asked him, that slightly broken waver in his tone he was trying to hide, hurt. Had it been under different circumstances, he might have had the time to process the jealousy he was also reading from Robert. 

“I don’t know.” He dug deep looking for an answer and came up blank. He lifted his head and frowned. “I…honestly have no idea. I remember thinking this was a bad idea, repeatedly in my head. I remember thinking how disrespectful it was to Mary despite what he’d said earlier, and I just…let it happen anyway.” He sighed, leaning his head back against the couch. “Fighting him didn’t even cross my mind.” 

Robert was silent for a long time. The man didn’t even move and it worried him. Robert must have been processing everything he was saying. That, or planning on how to kill him and hide the body. Robert furrowed his brows, “You mentioned wine earlier…” Robert let it hang in the air, but Wes understood it was a question. 

He nodded. “Yeah, something dark…almost looked like it had sparkles in it.” He hummed as he thought, trying to remember the name. _Something…red? No, no, that wasn’t it. Evening Rouge? No, that’s not quite it either_. Then it clicked. “Twilight Rouge. That’s what it was. It…didn’t taste very good. The white zinfandel you picked up that one time was _so_ _much_ better.” He could feel Robert bristle next to him, it sent a shiver down his spine. “Is…is that important?” He hedged, unsure if Robert would answer him or not. 

Robert’s anger practically radiated off him. His jaw was tight and he was glaring at the wall in front of him. If he tried too much harder, Robert would set that spot on fire. “Yeah, it is.” Robert’s tone was clipped, dripping with disgust. “Fucking… _ bastard _ .” 

“Um…” He was starting to get a little worried about Robert, it felt like his anger was endless. 

Betsy must have felt Robert’s shift in mood, she got up from her bed and trotted over to him, her nails clicking away. She nuzzled into his side, before curling up, leaning her weight against him. It was several stressful minutes before his anger started to ebb away. Eventually, Robert let out a long, controlled breath and finally lifted one of his hands to pet Betsy. Having contact with her seemed to drain away most of his anger, but it was still simmering below the surface. 

After waiting another few minutes to make sure Robert was more or less calm, Wes tried inquiring again. “I think I’m missing something…people don’t just get angry over a trashy brand of wine.” 

Robert continued to stroke Betsy, his hand mindlessly scratching behind her ear. Robert’s nostrils flared and his glare shifting to more of a glower. A moment passed and Robert turned his head to look at him, his features grim and his tone serious. “The wine was drugged. He… _ drugged _ you. That’s why you didn’t fight.” 

“Robert, I don’t…” He sighed, trying to formulate a coherent thought after having that dropped on him. “I had my faculties about me…least I think so.” He cringed, “Pretty sure most drugs like… _ that _ cause memory loss. I don’t have that. I remember  _ everything _ …unfortunately.” Despite his grim expression, Robert looked at him in question. “What? He was a lousy lay. I’m allowed to say that.”  _ Ok, maybe that was a little too much information _ … 

The other man groaned, rubbing his free hand down his face. “I’m going to ignore that you said that…even if it  _ is _ true.” The corner of Robert’s lip twitched, before seriousness settled on him again. “It wouldn’t cause memory loss if the dose was only enough to lower your inhibitions, not make you black out.” Robert scratched the back of his neck. “You have a daughter, I know you looked that shit up online…” 

It went unsaid that Robert probably did the same thing at one point. 

“No, you’re right, I did.” Wes let his hands fall into his lap, his arms getting tired of being stretched out over his knees. “I just…I  _ can’t _ imagine that’s what happened.” It was his fault, it  _ had _ to be. “I can’t believe that…” 

Robert studied him. “You said you only thought of  _ him _ as a friend. Nothing more. Right?” He nodded, and Robert continued on. “I’d hazard a guess that weird shit didn’t start happening until  _ after _ you had that wine.” 

He didn’t like where that line of thought was heading. He pressed his lips into a thin line. Robert was partially right. He hadn’t encouraged any of Joseph’s advances until after they’d had wine. They both had the wine, right? If Joseph’s goal was to drug him, why bother drinking the wine as well? A terrible thought occurred to him: Joseph’s advances did start getting less subtle after they’d both had the wine. He could almost feel his face paling at the thought. How could he have let this happen to him? He should have been more vigilant, but then again he didn’t think there was any real threat…He shook his head to clear the thought. “It doesn’t matter. I still put myself in that position despite the warning you gave me…” 

“It  _ does _ matter.” Robert’s voice grew low and gravely. Betsy’s ears perked up, but she didn’t move from Robert’s side. “Did you ever, at any point, want to be with him?” 

There was something in his tone…that slight wavering was back, and he didn’t like it. It sounded like Robert didn’t want to ask the question in the first place, because he didn’t want to know the answer. He hated that he was the cause of that sound. Before that day, he’d thought about it, sure…but the thought was squashed instantly. Doing something like that went against his morals. He sighed as he answered, his voice barely a whisper. “No.” 

“Then he’s the one at fault, not you.” Robert rumbled, his fury flaring up again. “He knew, he knew the  _ whole fucking time _ . He planned it all, and he took advantage of you being stuck out there with him. You gave him  _ everything _ he deserved.” Robert shifted so his back was against the couch, and he glared out at nothing. “Not enough if you ask me.” 

_ Ah, that’s right…they were still talking about that _ . “Robert, I’m -” 

“Don’t you dare say you’re sorry.” Robert growled, “Never apologize for defending yourself.” He bent his legs, wincing at their stiffness, and propped his arms on his knees. 

He let out a clipped, bitter laugh. “You sound just like my daughter.” 

“Kid’s got good instincts.” Robert drawled. He was quiet for a long moment. “I wish I’d had the balls to fight back like you did. Instead I slunk away with my tail between my legs and just…disappeared into the background.” He trailed off, a slight scowl on his face while he thought. Robert turned his head and looked at him. “Where did you learn to do that?” 

He sighed, knowing that it was inevitable. Once someone knew what he could do, the questions about it always followed. There was a reason he kept this part of him hidden away. He pursed his lips, trying to decide where to start. Robert wasn’t one of those people who would hound him for more answers, even if he seemed interested. What was the real harm in Robert knowing? It’s not like he’d do anything stupid with that information. 

Right? 

“I stumbled into it, really. Saw some crazy people on campus one day back in college throwing each other around and it looked like fun.” He smiled at the memories of that day, he’d never forget that encounter. “Ended up falling in love with it. Practiced that Martial Art for a long time, but…I had to quit.” 

Robert huffed, giving him a  _ look _ . “Don’t tell me you quit ‘cause of your daughter.” 

_ Ouch _ . This was a conversation he was starting to wish they weren’t having. No help for it now, he supposed. It’s not like what they were talking about before wasn’t heavy. He wished it was that simple, but the truth was far worse. “Ah, no. No, I had to quit because…because Alex died.” He trailed off, not wanting to see whatever way Robert was looking at him. 

Robert cursed under his breath, “Shit, I didn’t mean -” 

“It’s alright, you didn’t know.” He waved Robert off, motioning not to worry about it. “Things were tough for a long time, money was tight. I stopped going to the camps to save money, and I wasn’t going to travel long distance with a small child. Our Art might not have been severely dangerous, but there was a risk of injury, and I couldn’t take that chance…I wanted to be around for Amanda.” He absently rubbed the back of his neck. “Eventually I had to give up on the classes too so I could take extra shifts to make ends meet. I always told myself that I’d get back into it once Amanda got old enough, but…it just never happened.” 

Robert was quiet for a long time, processing this new information. “What’s stopping you now?” He asked, his tone honest and genuinely curious. “Your kid’s going off to college, there’s no reason why you couldn’t start again.” 

He had a point. There wasn’t anything stopping Wes now; his life was stable, Amanda would be going off to college soon…and even though finances would be tight because of the tuition, there was still enough for him to do something. “I guess not.” He hummed to himself, trying to figure out how to do this. “I…I’ll have to think about it. It’s probably been too long.” 

A wrist was waved in front of his vision, he turned to look at Robert. 

“Didn’t feel like it’s been too long to me.” A crooked grin stretched his lips. “You may not agree with me, but you did the right thing today. That asshole has been getting away with this shit for too long, and what better way to keep him scared than by being open about how badly you could kick his ass.” 

He rolled his eyes, batting the hand away. “Please don’t make me regret telling you any of this.” He groaned. 

“Then let me live vicariously through you for this one thing.” Robert countered. “Plus you owe me for that terrible joke earlier.” 

“It wasn’t  _ that _ bad…” His lips twitched, threatening to betray him. His only response was a grunt from Robert. He turned his head to look at him again. Robert was doing his best to look irritated, but he could tell that it was a front. “…ok it was pretty bad.” 

He heard a clock chime somewhere in the house and he sighed at the late hour, or rather, early hour. He needed to get to sleep if he had any hope of being a functioning human tomorrow. He briefly thought about asking Robert how he knew about the wine, but decided against it. That was for another day when it wasn’t so fucking late. Before he stood up, he bumped Robert’s shoulder with his own to get the man’s attention. “Hey, thank you, for…putting up with me.” He stood up stiffly, feeling his knees creaking as he did. He offered a hand to help Robert up, which he took much to his surprise. 

Robert grunted once he was on his feet, attempting to stretch out his back. “Whether I like it or not, we’re still neighbors.” 

_ Oh _ . His hopes and his stomach dropped. He averted his eyes, trying to find interest in anything other than the man in front of him. 

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m still angry at you, but…” Robert busied himself with cleaning up his Whiskey glass and the cider bottle. It seemed a little odd considering the other bottles strewn around the area. Once he was done, Robert walked back and stood in front of him. Robert searched his face for a moment before sighing, crossing his arms again. “You’re still one of the best friends I’ve had in a long time…” He repeated himself from earlier. 

His eyes practically popped out of his head, “What?” Surely he didn’t hear that right. 

Robert huffed and shifted his weight, “Yeah, I’m just as surprised as you are.”

He was having a hard time believing it. After everything that happened, Robert still wanted to be his friend. He didn’t think it was possible, not after what happened with them at the pier. Even if he was reeling from the news, he was going to take this as a golden opportunity. It’s not everyday that your best friend forgives you for something so horrible, even if it wasn’t entirely his fault. That thought gave him pause. Was Robert his best friend? Craig had always been his best friend, and he still was. Could you have two best friends? Was that even legal? 

He shook himself from his train of thought. “I’ll take it.” He said a little too quickly, a smile growing on his face. It turned into a yawn, and he covered his mouth with the back of his hand. “All this emotional talk really took it out of me tonight.” 

“That’ll happen when you show vulnerability.” Robert said, stifling his own yawn. He started moving towards the door, encouraging him to follow. “It’s a damn shame though.” 

He grabbed his jacket, pausing his movements with one arm through the sleeve. “Why’s that?” He looked over his shoulder at Robert, finding him closer now than he was a second ago. 

Robert pressed into his personal space, enough to feel his heat but not touch him. “I was hoping we could have a little… _ fun _ tonight.” His voice dropped low, the words rolling off his tongue. 

“ _ What? _ ” He squeaked, turning around to face Robert and hitting his back against the wall in the process.  _ Ugh, he was gonna feel that tomorrow…today? Whatever. _ His eyes darted around Robert’s face, trying to read his expression. 

His panic must have been obvious, because Robert’s smile turned playful and he rolled his eyes. “Christ, I’m joking…” Robert leaned back to give him some space, his grin turning smug. “Or am I?”

He let out a heavy breath, feeling his shoulders relax.  _ Holy shit _ . “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?” He leaned back against the wall to steady himself, his jacket still only half on. 

Robert laughed at that. He had a nice laugh. He’d take this Robert over the one he was sitting next to not long ago any day. “No, I’m trying to be more…transparent.” He hesitated for a moment, “It’s your own fault. You confused me being interested in you with hating you. Don’t tell me you didn’t see this coming.” 

Huffing, Wes pushed himself off the wall and finished putting on his jacket. He elected to ignore the last thing Robert said, his brain focusing on the interested part. Was Robert serious about that, or was it just another one of his bits... “I’ll try to be less dense in the future, but I make no promises.” He shoved his hands in his pockets, making a show of eyeing Robert up and down before opening the door to leave. “I’m keeping my eye on you, punk.” 

Robert leaned casually against the door jam, his arms still crossed, a chuckle escaping him. “Alright, tough guy. I’ll let you in on a little secret, kid. I know where you live. You want to keep that life you’re living, I suggest you keep your head down.” He brandished the karambit he had earlier from seemingly nowhere. The grin Robert had was practically splitting his face. “Now get the hell out of my house.” 

He backed away onto the porch, his hands raised in surrender. “’Aight Boss...I got it, I know when I’m not wanted.” He saw a quick flash of something across Robert’s face, but it was gone so fast he thought he was seeing things.  _ Right _ . He’d told Robert about how he felt like the man didn’t want him around. How could he forget about that? Maybe it had something to do with all the other shit he had to trudge thought tonight. Trying not to dwell on it, he stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets. The smile he gave Robert was warm. “See ya around?” 

It took a moment for Robert to respond, but whatever he’d been feeling must have passed. “Yeah, sure.” He gave one more nod of goodbye and stepped back, closing the door. 

He waited a second before turning away from Robert’s house, walking down to the sidewalk towards his own home. The house was silent when he entered, locking the door behind him. He couldn’t hear anything from Amanda’s room, so she must have been passed out by now. It was oh shit in the morning after all. Shrugging out of his jacket, he kicked off his shoes near the door and trudged to his room. Putting in the minimum effort to prepare for bed that he could. 

It had been…a day. It felt like this day had stretched on forever, so much had happened. He crawled into his bed, grateful that he didn’t have to work in the morning. He was emotionally drained and would probably end up a zombie tomorrow anyway. But…things ended up not so bad for him. He knew now that Robert didn’t hate him, and he was willing to continue their friendship despite what happened. 

Mary…well, he wasn’t sure about Mary. She seemed willing to move past it, but at a detriment to himself. In all honesty he could live with that. It was better than having her as an enemy anyway. And Joseph…was  _ afraid _ of him. He’d never had anyone scared of him in his entire life. He was not an intimidating person by any means, and was almost always a target. 

As he drifted off into blissful oblivion, he couldn’t help but think that maybe things were falling into place for him. Tomorrow was another day, and for once, he looked forward to what it would bring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My goal is to try and post every other week with time permitting.


	3. Hangovers and Workouts and Dates Oh My

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the delay in this chapter, it was a busy weekend going into a busy week. There are no warnings I can think of for this chapter.

It took several weeks for things to start being remotely normal again. He kept himself busy so he didn’t have a whole lot of time to start thinking about things too deeply. He’d had some really terrible nights right after the events happened. The nightmares were unpredictable, and he couldn’t go back to sleep resulting in him walking around like a zombie the next day. Despite the talk he’d had with Mary and Robert, fear still lurked in the back of his mind. His anxiety twisted their words, and he began to doubt what he’d heard with his own ears. 

Amanda, bless her, hadn’t said much on the subject or asked any questions about what happened. He could tell she was concerned and that she wanted to ask, but refrained from doing so. He did his best not to worry her, she had plenty of other things to think about with college just around the corner. She didn’t need to waste any extra bandwidth on him, he was supposed to be the parent for Christ sakes. It became painfully obvious to him that Amanda had inherited her ability to hide her problems from Alex, and not him. It was almost a week before Amanda stopped looking at him with concern, worried that the wrong thing said might break him. Truth be told, he did plenty of that to himself during the quiet hours of the night. 

He hadn’t seen hide nor hair of Joseph, much to his relief. Which was a miracle in and of itself since they were next door neighbors.

He’d done his best to stay away from Jim and Kim’s, knowing it was Mary and Robert’s favorite haunt. There were several nights where Amanda needed the house to herself for group get togethers or whatever, and he’d needed something to do. The first time he was lucky enough that it was open mic night at the Coffee Spoon, so he spent his evening listening to music, standup, and the occasional beat poem. All in all, not a bad night, plus he got to hang out with Mat who was a super cool guy. 

The second time, he wasn’t so lucky. He knew there was some kind of championship Game going on that night, so he mustered up the courage to face Jim and Kim’s head on. It was a little earlier than he normally would have gone, but maybe that would work to his advantage. 

It did not. 

Not even ten minutes of him being there, sitting at the bar was he accosted by Mary. She snuck up behind him and scared him so badly he nearly fell off his barstool. She gave a hearty cackle, slapping him on the back and moved along. He had no doubt in his mind that this would be the kind of treatment he’d receive from her until she grew bored of torturing him. Robert had shown up sometime later that night, and he was almost grateful the man didn’t bother coming over to the bar. Robert had made a beeline to whatever booth Mary had procured. It wasn’t long after that he’d decided he needed to be anywhere but in that bar and slunk out as nonchalantly as he could. It was late enough that whatever Amanda was doing would be done, he slipped into bed and tried to pretend he wasn’t a shitty person. 

The third time, he once again found himself at Jim and Kim’s. He didn’t bother to look around the building before heading to the bar, taking up his usual spot and asking for his usual beer. He hadn’t planned on staying too long, he just needed to get out of the house and out of his own head. It had been a bad day, with little to do other than try and push away his intrusive thoughts. It was noisy in the bar that night, the smell of fried food and cigarette smoke keeping his mind in the present. He hadn’t been paying much attention to the people around him, and he was startled by a loud, disgusted noise next to him that made him jump. Looking towards the sound, he found Mary looking at him expectantly with a raised eyebrow. 

“Hey, Sailor.” She greeted with her usual charm. “You gonna keep dodging us or are ya gonna come have some fun?” She jutted her thumb in the direction of a booth where Robert was already seated. Robert raised his glass when he saw him looking that direction. 

“Um…” Wes started, all of the excuses flying through his mind. He shouldn’t have been surprised that the two of them picked up on his prolonged absence. Mary didn’t look upset with him, and neither did Robert from what he could tell. It was still hard for him to believe that they’d want anything to do with him after what happened all those weeks ago. Searching her face for any kind of malice or hidden agenda, he fiddled with his beer bottle. After a moment that seemed way too long for him, he sighed. “Yeah, alright.” 

Mary let out a little cheer and flagged Neil down for…whatever it was that she normally ordered for shots. He chuckled when Neil pushed three glasses of Whiskey into her hands, one she immediately passed off to him. He followed her to the booth, sliding into the side opposite of her and Robert. He continued to fiddle with his half full beer, anxiety starting to claw at him again. He wanted nothing more than to escape and lock himself in his house right in that moment. At least that was a better excuse than circumventing social interaction. 

“Christ, stop looking like you’re in front of a firing squad.” Robert grumbled, taking a sip of his Whiskey. 

Wes looked down at the table in shame, mumbling an apology. Even to his ears it sounded weak and pathetic. He thought he heard Robert make a concerned sound, but he wasn’t sure. He shouldn’t be here, there had to be a reason why they invited him over, and it certainly wasn’t just to chat. He needed to leave, to get out, _get away_ . He couldn’t do this, _god_ , he couldn’t – 

Mary huffed, snapping him out of his spiral. “Kid, I’m only going to say this once. Stop. I can see what you’re doing, and you need to stop. Ok?” Her tone was uncharacteristically gentle, her expression open and honest. “That kind of thinking doesn’t help anyone, trust me, I should know...” She side-glanced at Robert, before continuing. “We both do. Alright? We good?” 

He was stunned for a moment, his brain short circuiting before he could answer. It felt like Mary had offered him an olive branch, and he’d be damned if he didn’t take it. He nodded. “Yeah…we’re good.” 

“Good.” Mary punctuated with a manicured nail against her wine glass as she set it down on the table. She picked up her Whiskey and held it out to them, they raised their own glasses and clinked them against hers. “Now lets do some shots!” 

And that was how he ended up with a hangover. Wes tenderly padded down the hall and into the kitchen, leaving the lights turned off. He reached into the medicine cabinet and pulled out some aspirin, and filled a glass of water, downing both as quickly as he could. _Ugh_ . His stomach was _not_ happy with him. He slumped over the counter, resting his head on his arms and groaning. 

“Whoa pops, are you ok?” Amanda asked when she found him there. 

_Oh god her voice is so loud._ He groaned again, his head throbbing at the noise. “Please don’t speak so loud.” He whined, digging his head further into his crossed arms. “Amanda…your loving Father might have overdone it last night.” 

“Oooooh, somebody’s hungover.” He could practically hear the grin in her voice. Normally her smarmy charm would be endearing, but it just grated on his ears. 

“Father of the year…” Against his better judgment, he lifted his head to look at his daughter. He immediately snapped his eyes shut against the blinding, dim light coming in from outside. “You wouldn’t happen to have something other than aspirin to make me feel less like death do you?” 

She thought for a moment, or at least he assumed she did since he still hadn’t opened his eyes again. “I’ve got just the thing. Hang on.” She walked around to his side of the counter and opened the fridge, pulling something out that sloshed around. 

He chanced opening his eyes again and while the light stabbed at them, it was a little more tolerable…but not by much. Did she just grab a jar of…pickles? “Amanda…what?” He couldn’t even form a coherent question, but hoped his loving daughter who’d known him all her life would understand. 

She set the jar down on the counter as gently as she could, and pushed it towards him. “Drink this.” 

He looked at her with a question on the tip of his tongue. He went for the more obvious one first. He squinted his eyes suspiciously. “The pickle juice…” 

She gave him a blinding smile. At least that didn’t make his eyes sting like real light. “Yup! It’s what I used once, ah - I would _assume_ someone would use. I would also assume that…it works pretty well.” She did her best to look innocent, and to a lesser trained eye she might have pulled it off. “Although I’ve never tried it before. And won’t try it. Obviously.” 

As her father he could see right through her bullshit. He squinted even more at Amanda. “Who raised you?” It was meant to be a rhetorical question, but one she insisted on answering. 

“Uh, you did.” She shot back, hands on her hips with a smug smile. 

“…Right. Um…” He wracked his brain for something to scold her with, but couldn’t manage to care that much right now. “Do as I say, not as I do.” 

She cracked a wider smile. “You got it.” 

He sighed and made a dramatic grab for the pickle jar, pulling it close to him and unscrewing the top. _Oof_. That was a pungent smell that made his poor stomach clench. He looked down into the yellow-green liquid with apprehension. “This better work.” He tipped the jar up and sipped at the tart juice. He cringed as his body shivered at the taste, it was beyond unpleasant. He set the jar down and pushed it away from him. 

Amanda made a sound in her throat, gesturing to the jar. “No, no, more than that. _Way_ more than that.” She crossed her arm and looked at him expectantly, her face then shifting into something neutral. “I mean. I _assume_.” 

“Watch it, you.” He said with no heat in his voice. He grabbed the jar again and forced himself to take several gulps of pickle juice before he had to quit. Any more than that and he was certain he would puke. After making a disgusted face, he screwed the top back on and put the pickles back in the fridge. “Ok, I need to eat real food or I’m going to die.” 

Amanda rolled her eyes, smirking. “Ugh, you’re so dramatic.” She laughed quietly, dancing around him and opening up the fridge again. He was about to scold her for leaving the door open too long when she spoke. “How about a hearty breakfast?” 

All criticism flew out the window. “Bless you sweet child.” He helped her gather ingredients, and together they cooked a breakfast feast worthy of a king. Bacon, hash browns, toast, and eggs that were perfectly runny. He poured them both a glass for orange juice and they dug in. He was starting to feel much better with food on his stomach. He leaned back in his chair and stretched, his headache bearable now. 

“Hey pops?” 

“Yes, Panda?” He stood from his seat and took his plate and his glass to the sink to wash them. He listened carefully, but she didn’t continue. When he was done, he turned around and leaned against the counter, wiping his hands on a dishtowel. When she still didn’t speak up, he gently prodded, “Everything ok sweetie?” 

Her head was leaning against one of her hands, her other pushed some lingering hash browns around the plate with her fork. After a moment she shook her head, “Yeah, I’m fine.” Amanda studied him, finally setting her fork down. “I’m more worried about you though.” 

_And there it was_ . He thought for a moment, tossing the towel aside. “Because I partied too hard last night?” He was giving her an out, but he was more giving _himself_ an out so he didn’t have to have this conversation with his daughter. He didn’t need to burden her with his fuck ups, and she didn’t need to know what really happened. 

“No,” she crossed her arms, and leaned them against the counter. “Well…yeah, maybe a little, you’re usually so boring you don’t _let_ yourself have that much fun.” Amanda smirked at his surprise, ignoring his mock sound of offense. “But I kinda feel like that ties into whatever has been bothering you since my graduation party.” She picked at a stray thread in her jacket. Amanda never took that thing off. “I didn’t hear much, but…I knew it was bad, whatever happened. Like I said then, I’ve never seen you so angry before.” 

“And like _I_ said, I was more angry with myself than anything else.” Amanda watched him expectantly and he sighed. He wasn’t getting out of it this time. _Sheesh, talk about role reversal_ . He grabbed her abandoned plate and glass, washing them while he thought of an answer. “I let myself get swept up in something I shouldn’t have, and ultimately, I paid the price for it. Because of my actions, I hurt not one, not two, but _three_ people.” 

“Are you including yourself in those numbers?” She asked, cutting him off. 

“I…no. I’m the one who screwed up, not them.” The words slipped out of his mouth before he could stop them. He thought about the conversation he had with Robert weeks ago. He needed to forgive himself, but that also meant he needed to admit what he had been trying for weeks to deny. “Well…that’s not entirely true…two didn’t, anyway.” He tapped a disjointed rhythm against the counter top, his attention on the floor. He was going to have to scrub the grout soon, it was getting dirty in some areas… 

Amanda huffed. “That’s dumb, _you_ got hurt too.” She leaned back, using one of her feet to rock the whole chair. “C’mon pops, I’m just worried about you. Whatever happened has been bothering you for _weeks_. You know you can talk to me, right?” 

He let out a heavy sigh he’d been holding in, and relaxed his shoulders…he really needed to stop tensing up. He showed his palms to her, admitting defeat. “Alright, alright…you’re too damn observant for your own good, you know that?” He groaned, rolling his head back dramatically. “I don’t _wanna_ .” He drew out the word and received a giggle from Amanda. Well, that’s something. _Jesus, how did he explain this cluster fuck to Amanda_. He needed to remember that she was an adult now, getting ready to go off and be independent at college. He’d done his best to show her that everyone makes mistakes, even adults. This was really no different, it was just a mistake on a whole nother level. 

Maybe he could even spin it as a cautionary tale. “I’ll spare you the indecent details, but…long story short, I…” _Just spit it out already!_ “I trusted the wrong person, and made a piss poor decision.” He glared at the floor, his anger flaring at his stupidity. “Come to find out later, that _thing_ I always warn you about at parties played a part in it too…” He looked anywhere but his daughter, not wanting to see the shame in her eyes. The thought of it only made him angrier. 

“Oh, dad…” Amanda stood from her chair and walked around the counter to him, wrapping him up in a fierce hug. “I’m so sorry. You should have told me sooner! You shouldn’t have to deal with a traumatic event like that alone…” 

_Traumatic_ . That struck a chord in him. He was frozen for a second or two before returning the hug. “It’s ok kiddo. I’ll be fine. I _am_ fine.” He kissed the top of her head as she held him tightly. He thought about telling her that he wasn’t dealing with it completely by himself, but…it’s not like he was actively looking for help. A small smile threatened to curl his lip. Maybe her nickname should have been Koala. 

She pulled away just enough to give him a stern look. “Dad, you haven’t _been_ fine. Yeah, I got a read of the room at my graduation party, but I misinterpreted it…” 

He gave her a pat on the back and released her, leaning against the counter once more. “You didn’t, at least not at first.” That seemed to confuse her, and he beat her to it before she could speak. “You thought little ‘ol me jumped gleefully into a married man’s bed? I’m offended.” He tried to play it off, but it wasn’t in good taste. _Moving on_. “I thought that too, until I got some new information from Robert…” 

“That’s not funny.” She was giving him a look that was similar to Robert’s from that night. It passed quickly as Amanda thought about that for a moment. “I noticed Robert acting weird too...” She trailed off, tapping her hand against her thigh. “So _Robert_ was the third person you were talking about.” 

Why was he still having this conversation with his daughter of all people. It wasn’t his place to tell her personal things about other people. He would have to be very careful about what he said. “Well…Robert and Mary are really good friends, you would be mad if your best friend’s partner cheated right?” 

Amanda nodded, already looking like she was ready to fight. 

“Ok, so now imagine that you are also really good friends with the person the partner cheated with, and you really didn’t like your friend’s partner anyway…still following?” 

She crossed her arms and shifted her weight with a smirk. “So you’re asking how I’d feel in that situation…well, definitely mad, maybe even betrayed...” Amanda pursed her lips and looked into the middle distance. “Ok, things make more sense now.” She looked like she wanted to say something else, but refrained. 

“ _So_ ,” He started, walking into the living room and flopping down on the couch. “Now you know my dirty little secret. Again, Father of the year, right here.” His voice dripped with sarcasm at the last part. 

Amanda frowned again, but was distracted when her phone buzzed. She pulled it out, and quickly typed something out before putting it back in her jacket pocket. She watched him, hesitating for a moment. “Are you gonna be ok by yourself today?” 

He waved her off, turning on the tv. “I’ll be fine, Panda, go have fun with your friends.” He nodded towards the phone in her pocket. Since summer break started it felt like Amanda was always off doing something with her friends. Normally he didn’t notice so much since he worked, but…on days that were quiet, the silence in the house was deafening. 

“You sure? I can hang out with you today instead…” She still looked uncertain. 

Guess he’d just have to fix that. “Sweetie, I’m _fine_. Go, get out of the house.” She still didn’t look convinced and he rolled his eyes. “What if I promise I’ll take a walk in the park later, get some of that sun?” 

That seemed to put her at ease. “Alright pops. I’m gonna head out then, catch that pop-up art gallery with some friends from my design class. Dunno when I’ll be home.” 

“Alright, have fun. Stay safe.” He gave her a bright smile, hoping that it would put her at ease. 

She didn’t look convinced, but she headed out anyway. 

When the door shut behind her, something in his chest unclenched. Had he really been that anxious? How the hell had he not noticed that…that made him worry a little. He pushed the thoughts away for the moment, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. He looked at the clock and realized it was late morning. He rubbed his face, exhaustion still clinging to him. With any luck he’d have an easier time falling asleep that night. Now he just had to survive the day. 

He was just getting settled into his couch when his phone started buzzing. Well, it certainly wasn’t Robert, the man never seemed to be awake before three in the afternoon…he also only messaged him last minute. He picked up his phone to see who was bothering him. _Oh, it was Craig…wait, shit_. 

From Craig:

‘ _Hey bro!!! Got a late start to the morning, wanna hit the gym?_ ’ 

Leaning his head back, he groaned. No, no he did _not_ want to hit the gym. He still wanted to crawl under a rock and not be bothered today. 

To Craig:

‘ _Hey man! Sounds like a plan, see you in 20?_ ’ 

He stared at the message he typed and had sent unconsciously. Well fuck, now he _had_ to go. Damn his twitchy trigger fingers. Grumbling under his breath, he forced himself off the couch to go change into workout clothes. He briefly looked at himself in the mirror, splashed some cold water in his face and tied his hair up. That would be good enough, he’d be a mess by the time Craig was done with him, so there was no point in putting any real effort into how he looked. When he was more or less put together, he grabbed the essentials and left the house. The light outside was trying to kill him, he could feel it…in his eyeballs. 

When he thought about having to survive the day, this was _not_ what he had in mind. Amanda better be proud of him, cause he knew he was going to regret all of the decisions he’d already made later. He jogged up to the gym, finding Craig already waiting for him. Something in his friend’s features screamed that this workout was going to be brutal. 

_Yep, this is how I die_.

* * *

Wes flopped down on the couch, his whole body still feeling numb. After that workout, he predicted that he wouldn’t be able to move for the next three days. Normally Craig just trained him himself, but today was different. Craig explained that he needed to be a backup trainer for some kind of class, since the person running the class was still getting certified. Craig told him that it would be fine. Craig told him that he’d help out his bro. Craig _told him_ that it was only an hour long. That seemed doable right? 

Wrong. 

When Craig told him about this class, for some reason he was thinking along the lines of Richard Simmons, not the hellscape that he entered into. The entire workout was written on a white board at the front of the room. Warm up, Strength/Skill, Training, and….Afterburner. Ok, he understood warm up and training, the others not so much. Hell, he didn’t even know what half of what was written on the board even _meant_. Craig just clapped him on the shoulder and said he’d stick by his Bro to help him out. 

It did not help. 

He was sucking air by the end of the _warm up_. It didn’t even look that bad! Not even ten minutes into it he was about ready to pass out. Craig was true to his word though, forcing him to drink water and not go beyond his limits. After all, he didn’t want another treadmill incident. At least Craig found that funny, because his back hadn’t. He was grateful that the not-exactly-trainer demonstrated everything on the board before sending everyone off. He remembered looking around the room and seeing everyone in the class acting like none of this was horrible. Well, to be fair Craig always seemed like he was fine, and knew almost everyone who’d shown up. 

That was another thing that threw him off. All those gym rats in the class made a point of coming over to him and introducing themselves, asking if this was his first class, and _welcoming_ him after that. It wasn’t just Craig encouraging him in the class, it was literally _everybody_. To be quite honest, that was probably the only thing that kept him going. If Craig was busy with someone else in the class, the woman running the class would come over and check on him. It was both sweet and terrifying. Half the time he didn’t know what he was doing, and the other half he did know he was doing poorly. Craig would put him through his paces on a normal workout day, but it was a lot more cardio and far less strength training. 

By the end of the most cruel hour of his life, Wes wasn’t the only one who looked like they were dying. It made him feel a little better. The remaining people in the class made sure to come congratulate him on surviving his first class, and they hoped to see him again. He didn’t think anyone looked more proud than Craig, and the big lunk made a point of letting everyone know he was his bro. It…was actually really endearing. He supposed he could use all the gym cred he could get, so being associated with Craig wasn’t a bad thing in his mind. 

Craig extended the offer to go running after the class, and Wes politely declined. If he didn’t get home now, he’d collapse somewhere and be doomed. Craig made him promise that he’d make good refuel choices. As it was, he barely had the strength to take a shower and change into fresh clothes. He’d have to thank Craig for hooking him up with some of his pre made, frozen protein smoothie packets. All he had to do was add water or milk to everything he dumped into the blender and let it rip. 

So here he…lounged on the couch, drinking a smoothie that was pretty damn good. He flipped on the tv and channel surfed for a few minutes before landing on a show he didn’t think he’d seen before. _Oooh, history channel!_ He checked the show info. Huh, Forged in Fire… _wonder why I never came across this before_... Eh, it was as good as anything else to watch for the afternoon. 

Turned out it was a show about making various sharp weapons and then having them tested in bizarre ways. The smith whose weapon performed poorly was kicked from the forge, and this continued until there were only two left. He idly thought that Robert would love this show, if he didn’t already know about it. Robert always seemed to be the first to know the latest in sharp and pointy things. Not that he minded, he liked listening to Robert talk about things that interested him. It wasn’t often that Robert talked about his interests without trying to pull one over on his audience. It was those rare occasions when he’d get just a _little too_ inebriated and let a little bit of the real Robert show through. 

Speaking of, he hoped Robert had just as bad a hangover as he did this morning. Mary was always a little fast and loose with the shots, but when Robert was there egging her on…it was a disaster waiting to happen. He had no clue how that woman never had a hangover. She must know some magic cure that he wasn’t aware of…kinda like how Amanda knew about the pickle juice. 

He rolled his eyes at the thought. He wasn’t surprised that she’d already imbibed at some point and paid the price for it, but he also trusted her to make good decisions. She was going off to college in a couple months, where he was certain she would party at _least_ a few times. He only hoped he’d given her enough tools to be able to survive the party culture. She was an adult after all, he’d done the best he could. 

The commercial break snapped him out of his thoughts, the damn thing was just _so loud_. Jesus, he should write to…someone. This shit was supposed to be fixed years ago. His vision drifted over to his laptop that sat on the side table, mocking him. 

He’d done a little digging and had found information on his old dojo. It was still there! And it was flourishing, which warmed the cockles of his heart. But…he hadn’t contacted anyone yet. He was afraid to. Afraid of what, he wasn’t exactly sure, cause that group was the most welcoming bunch of people he’d ever met. Going to the class that morning reminded him of the family he left behind all those years ago. Fell off the face of the earth really. Didn’t try to keep up, didn’t try to reach out, even when many of his friends tried to contact him. 

It was probably one of the worst decisions he’d ever made, cutting ties with his Martial Art’s family. After Alex passed, he’d lost his way. Instead of focusing on trying to blend with the emotions and pain of losing his partner, he’d buried it deep so he could spend his time focusing on Amanda. Maybe it wasn’t the right thing to do, but he couldn’t change the past, only learn from it. _Thanks Amanda for making me watch the Lion King a million times_. 

With a sigh, he grabbed for his laptop. He woke it from sleep and navigated back to his old dojo’s main page. He clicked through the pages on the site, looking at pictures, both old and new. Against his will, he found himself smiling. There were some faces he recognized, many he didn’t. Making his way to the contact page, he hovered over the link, and forced himself to click it. When the email window came up, he recognized the name in the banner and felt his heart clench. Without another thought, he closed the window and the browser completely. 

He’d try again another day.

* * *

He lay on the couch, staring down at his laptop. The device was still mocking him almost a week later. Wes glared at it, not sure why he felt like he was in a standoff with a piece of machinery. It had been so long his screen saver had come on, and he had to admit it was nice seeing the fancy fish swimming on and off screen. Well, he had been meaning to get some koi for his backyard pond…He also had that old aquarium in storage, since Amanda stopped taking care of all the fish after that one school project. He sighed, _those poor fish_ … 

Amanda plopped herself down on the couch, drawing his attention. “Keep looking at it like that and it’s gonna catch on fire.” She looked thoughtful for a moment. “What’s up Dadtron?” 

“Remember that conversation we had about you being too observant? Yeah, you’re doing the thing again…” He grumbled. He crossed his arms while he thought. “How would you feel if one of your friends dropped off the face of the planet years ago and then suddenly contacted you?” It seemed stupid to ask that of his 18 year old daughter, but it’s not like he had anyone else he could bounce ideas off of. _What am I gonna do when she’s gone?_

“Whoa, no one’s ever ghosted me before.” She leaned back into the couch, looking thoughtful. “Well…except when my ‘friends’ did, but I knew why they did it, even if I thought it was dumb.” Amanda huffed, tilting her head to the side. “How close was this friend of mine?” 

He hummed. “Pretty close I’d say, more of a sibling kind of relationship.” 

“Huh…” She crossed her legs and bounced the one on top. “I think I would be surprised at first, happy to know they’re alive, then pissed that they just showed up out of nowhere.” Amanda made a vague hand gesture, “But I think I’d want to hear them out. They were contacting me for a reason, right? I’d want to at least know why…then go from there I guess? Why do you ask?” 

“I…I’m thinking of doing that exact thing.” He grumbled, once again glaring at his computer. “And, while I understand not all women’s reactions are the same, I still wanted the opinion of a young woman.” 

“Oooooh,” Amanda grinned and waggled her eyebrows, “Is this an old flame, pops?” 

He huffed out a laugh. “No, Panda, not an old flame. She’s young enough to be my daughter…or your sister.” He rolled her eyes at her affronted look. “Did you not hear me say sibling-like relationship?” 

She continued to ignore him. “Father, is there something that you need to tell me? Do I have a long lost sister floating around out there?” Amanda was laying it on thick this time. 

“No, daughter, you don’t…not by blood anyway.” He hesitated for a moment, knowing Amanda would only ask about it if he waited too long. “No, she uh…I knew her from back when I was practicing the Art.” He uncrossed his arms and rubbed the back of his neck. “She apparently runs a dojo of her own now…” More specifically the one he used to practice at. 

“Are you thinking of going back?” Amanda asked, perking up. “Are you gonna contact her?” 

“I’m…debating.” He knew he was rusty as shit, no matter what Robert thought. If he went back now, he’d just embarrass himself _and_ the Organization. No, he needed to find a way to covertly practice so he didn’t look like a complete idiot. Or worse, hurt someone else. He could deal with injuring himself, he was used to that after all. “I still haven’t decided yet.” 

Amanda hummed, a look of concentration on her face. “Well…what’s the worst that happens? You don’t get a response. Seems like a risk worth taking to me.” She shrugged. 

He was about to answer when his computer chirped. He looked down at it quizzically. Then it chirped again…and again. Well, he had a sneaking suspicion who _that_ was. He woke the computer from the screen saver and clicked on the tab opened to Dadbook. Sure enough, there were a flurry of messages from Robert. He couldn’t stop himself from rolling his eyes, the urge was just _too strong_. 

From Robert:

_‘hey’_

_‘hey Wes’_

_‘guess who’s getting their drink on tonight’_

_‘guess’_

_‘it’s you’_

_‘also me but mostly you’_

“Who’s that?” Amanda asked innocently, trying to stretch herself to see over the screen. 

“I’ll give you three guesses and the first two don’t count.” He said flatly. 

Her grin only grew wider, “Oh, I already know who that is. No one else sends messages to you like that.” Amanda stopped stretching and sunk back into the couch. “Well, don’t leave him hanging!” She said, motioning to the computer. 

He shook his head, but there was a smile on his face. He wondered if he should be worried that Amanda knew who it was messaging him…or if she had an ulterior motive. Amanda could be quite sneaky if left to her own devices. He looked at the messages one last time before typing out a response. 

To Robert:

 _‘Robert, buddy. Tonight we ride.’_

It was more likely that Robert was going to ride, and he was going to be drunk under the table. But…he did miss hanging out with Robert. They hadn’t had a real proper hang out since Robert had taken him up to his thinking spot overlooking the bay. They didn’t really talk much after that, other than the time Robert invited him into his home…Sure, he’d seen the man around, and hung out at the bar with Robert and Mary, but…it didn’t really feel the same. Another two chirps made him focus on the screen again. 

From Robert:

_‘yeeeeeeeeeeees’_

_‘meet me at jim n kims @ 8 pm’_

That’s…interesting. Not that he wasn’t grateful, but Robert never gave him more than an hours time in advance. 

“So…” Amanda stretched out, looking intently at him. 

“So…” He parroted, still trying to make sense of Robert’s advanced planning. “Looks like I’m meeting Robert at Jim and Kim’s tonight.” That was probably the most Robert had messaged him since showing up his doorstep late that night. That was… _jesus_ , that must have been almost a month and a half ago now. “Robert, who is my friend. I have friends.” 

“I’m happy for you, Dad.” She somehow managed to sink further into the couch. She’d become a real pro at couch potatoing. Once she was sunk back to her liking, she pulled an earbud out of her pocket and stuck into her ear. 

He could hear the music from where he was sitting. She was going to go deaf if she kept that up. “People enjoy my company, Amanda.” At least he hoped people enjoyed his company and weren’t just being nice to him. For all he knew, Robert had finally decided to kill him and was plotting how to clean up the crime. 

She rolled her eyes and huffed. “Dad, I’m so happy for your continued development as a human being.” She started nodding her head to her music, a smile forming on her face. 

At least the ear closest to him was free. It still bothered him she had it up that loud, but she was an adult now. If she wanted to make herself deaf in one ear, there was nothing he could do to stop her. He decided to change course. “What are you listening to?” 

“Sad Shit.” Her grin got wider, and she raised an eyebrow at him. 

_Oh boy_ . “Amanda, lang-…” He paused, thinking it over. Was there really any point to scolding her anymore? He had no doubt she said far worse things around her friends than she did around him. Plus it wasn’t like he’d be there to change her behavior at college. He _knew_ almost all sentences on campus were required to have fuck in there somewhere. It was a rule he could not change and used frequently in his day. “…You know what? You’re an adult now. I gave it an earnest effort for all 18 years of your life. Go forth and swear…and listen to your music far too loud for it to be healthy.” 

“Fuck yeah!” Amanda shouted, punching her fist into the air. She sounded awfully happy about that. 

He supposed it was the little things in life that gave everyone joy…even if it was being able to curse freely. He set his computer aside, fingers lingering on the device for a moment while he thought. Getting an idea, he picked it back up and searched Dadmazon for what he had in mind. Finding it successfully, he made the purchase without another thought and finally set his computer off to the side. It would take some time to get to him, but he wasn’t in a rush. It was a good step in the right direction, at least. 

He and Amanda spent the rest of the afternoon lounging on the couch watching reruns of Haunted Life: Living With Spirits. Even though it was a reality show, he knew most of the drama was staged. That didn’t make it any less entertaining when one of the ghost roommates started throwing objects around since they couldn’t actually attack who they were mad at. There was no way that rubber chicken was there for nothing. Hearing the sad honk of defeat when it smacked Janet in the face was _hilarious_. He was grateful for little moments like this, being able to spend time with his daughter. Logically, he knew that she wasn’t going away forever, and she’d be home on breaks, but…it would be the first time she’d be away from home for longer than a weekend. Amanda, he knew would be fine. 

He, on the other hand...that was a different story. He mentally shook himself, bringing himself back to the here and now. That was something to deal with…later. For now, he just wanted to sit on the couch and watch tv with Amanda.


	4. It's Always Darkest Before the Dawn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for super mild sexual content, it's no worse than what was seen in game.
> 
> I apologize for the lateness of this post. I wrote a good bit while in quarantine, but now that I'm back to work, I have much less time to write. Chances are I will not be able to keep to the every other week schedule, but I'll do the best I can.

He felt like he was still running on adrenaline as he walked home with Robert. He’d never done anything like that in his life, and it was amazing! Robert was really the incredible one though, being able to think that quickly on his feet. Robert was an old pro at that kind of con, and Wes was proud that he’d done as well as he did. Something about being around Robert gave him the courage to be more…adventurous, spontaneous, even a little bit bad. Maybe that wasn’t the best of influences, but he was having more fun than he’d had in a long time.

“That was incredible!” Wes held his shirt out in front of him, looking at it again. That whole thing still didn’t feel  _ real _ . He was waiting to wake up from it being all a dream. He tossed the shirt back over his shoulder, bumping Robert’s in the process. 

Robert let out a hearty laugh. “I really can’t believe they bought all of that. I didn’t know you had it in ya,  _ Dr. Loomis _ .” Robert nudged his shoulder back against Wes’. “That bit about the pocket bible was aces. Although giving the Dover Ghost glowing red eyes was a little cliché.” 

He snorted, side eyeing Robert. “And the Kubrick conspiracy theory bit wasn’t?” 

“All a part of the character.” Robert replied smoothly with a smug grin. 

He shook his head, but still had a huge smile plastered on his face. “Well, we got the shirts out of it.” Looking up he realized they’d made the short walk back to the cul-de-sac already, slowing down in front of Robert’s house. 

“Wanna have a drink?” Robert stopped in front of his walkway. He was watching him, almost studying him. 

No, that wasn’t right either. Robert was waiting to see how he reacted. Wes felt bad knowing that it was his behavior in the past that made Robert so hesitant. He shifted his weight, eyeing Robert up and down dramatically. “I know where this goes, Small. I know the steps. One second I’m sipping delicious aged scotch, the next I’m foaming at the mouth and you’ve taken over the throne.” He narrowed his eyes at Robert for effect. 

Robert’s posture relaxed and his grin only grew. “Long live the king, baby.” He walked up to his house and unlocked the door, not waiting for Wes to follow. 

He walked into the home and shut the door behind him, once again looking around the home. This was the third time he’d been in Robert’s house, yet it still seemed unfamiliar and foreign. Now in the quiet of the home, he remembered what Mary had told him. He’d completely forgotten about it when they started joking around during the ghost tour. He looked around the room after hanging up his jacket. It didn’t look any different from the last time he was here…maybe slightly cleaner? He wasn’t really sure. 

The sound of tiny claws on the hardwood floor broke him out of his thoughts. Being more prepared this time, he crouched down to give the little pup as many hugs as she wanted. 

“Betsy! Hey! Be nice!” Robert called from the kitchen, but he had nothing to worry about. 

Betsy was just as happy and excited to see them as the last time. She danced around his feet looking for pets, and he obliged. When she’d had enough from him, she trotted over to Robert to get his attention. He gave her a pat on the head, scratching behind one of her ears, and that seemed good enough for the moment. She made her way over to her bed and curled up. 

Robert came out of the kitchen with two glasses of whiskey, pressing one into his hands as they sat down on the couch. 

Wes idly took a sip from the drink he was given, watching Robert relax into his admittedly better-than-his couch. “So…” He started, testing the waters of silence. “How did you really get that scar?” He’d been wondering about it since Robert showed it off during the tour. It had nothing to do with him getting a glimpse of the man’s chest, nope, not at all. Maybe he was secretly hoping he’d show the scar again, and he could get a  _ better _ look this time. “And don’t tell me you got it fishing for Alaskan King Crabs in the Bering sea or something. You trained me too well.” 

Robert laughs, also taking a drink from his whiskey. “My daughter and I were riding our bikes, I hit a rock, flew over the handlebars, and then we went to the hospital. And that’s it.” Robert was looking somewhere off in the distance as he talked, as if he were disassociated with the event. “Not a very interesting story.” Robert took another sip of his drink, the ice clinking against the sides of the glass. 

_ His daughter _ . He knew that Robert had a kid, somewhere, but he’d never heard him talk about them. He wanted to know more, but knew he had to tread lightly. There was a reason why he didn’t talk about his daughter. “I’ve never heard you talk about your daughter.” 

“Well, I have one.” Robert said without ceremony. For a long time there was silence, then Robert spoke again. “…That’s her.” He pointed to a picture on the wall of a very serious little girl with dark eyes. 

_ Yep, that was definitely Robert’s daughter _ . Wes smiled at the picture. “How old is she?” He would keep asking questions until Robert tried to stab him. He wanted to know more about the mysterious guy that he somehow managed to befriend. 

Robert hesitated. “Uh…25? 26? Not too sure.” He looked down into his glass. 

He…doesn’t know how old she is? That seemed odd. He tried again to get a little more information out of Robert. “Does…she live around here?” 

Robert shook his head. “No, Val lives back home in Brooklyn. Works at some new media online magazine thing. Makes buckets, though.” He was suddenly very serious, talking about his daughter. 

_ I probably shouldn’t press him about it _ . He was just glad he’d gotten as far as he had. He set his drink down on the coffee table, thinking maybe he should keep a level head right now. 

“You like Santana?” Robert asked. 

“Sure,” He answered, not expecting to really get a choice in the matter. Sure enough, Robert flipped on Santana. He wasn’t surprised, it wasn’t the first time this had happened. He didn’t think he’d ever listened to this artist, but he liked the music. 

“Great.” Robert suddenly downed his drink in one gulp, setting the empty glass aside. 

Ok, that…was a little concerning. Especially given the kind of conversation they’d been having not two minutes ago. “Hey…are you alright?” His eyes jumped from the abandoned drink on the coffee table to Robert, who was suddenly very close to him. Close enough that he could smell the whiskey on Robert’s breath. His eyes darted around the other man’s face, trying to find… _ something _ to go off of. 

There was a beat, and then Robert leaned in and kissed him. His lips burned from the whiskey on Robert’s lips, the heat traveling through him. His brain was short circuited in surprise, but he relaxed when Robert held him steady. It felt like they were there for an eternity, trapped in a moment he didn’t want to let go of. He had been hopeful, sure, but given their history it felt like a dream. The spell was broken when Robert pulled away, just enough to break the contact between them. 

Robert’s lips brushed his when he finally spoke. “I am now.” It was quiet, almost gentle, barely audible over the music playing in the background. 

Wes breathed out a wavering sigh, finding no words to say. He didn’t know when he grabbed onto Robert, but his hands registered there was fabric and leather in his grip. His eyes fluttered closed, trying to take everything in. He hadn’t realized he’d moved imperceptibly closer until his nose bumped Robert’s. 

Robert closed the distance between them, kissing him harder this time. His grip tightened with the new intensity as Robert gently bit at his bottom lip. Robert’s hand slipped under his shirt, feeling out his skin and leaving it heated in its wake. Could Robert feel how fast his heart was beating? Feel the pounding through his ribcage and across his skin? He finally let go of his death grip on Robert’s clothes, sliding one hand around Robert’s back, and the other behind the man’s neck. He gently played with the wisps of hair at the nape of Robert’s neck. 

He was encouraged to lie down on the couch, Robert hovering over him. He sank into the plush cushions as Robert trailed a string of kisses along his jaw and down his neck. Robert’s teeth grazed the junction of his shoulder, teasing the sensitive skin there. He shuddered at the contact, feeling prickles of goosebumps radiating out across his body. His brain tried to get back on track, but Robert was making it difficult. 

_ I…I just…wait… _ “It’s not that.” He breathed, his voice wavering as he tried to get the words out clearly. Robert’s hands and mouth on him were incredibly distracting, and he struggled to keep his train of thought. He was caught off guard when Robert bit down on the area he had been teasing, barely able to stifle a moan that threatened to bubble out of him. “Stop.” He put more effort into making his voice even and clear, using the hand that had been around Robert’s back to apply gentle pressure to the man’s shoulder. 

Robert froze, his body stiffening up before he pulled away to look down at him. “No biting?” Robert’s expression was unreadable, the man’s eyes searching his face. 

As much as Wes appreciated a man who asked about boundaries, that’s not what he was getting at. Not right now. “No, I’m more than ok with that, trust me.” He sighed, letting his head flop back against the cushions. Robert was looking at him expectantly, his hand still pressed against his chest.  _ Nope, don’t let yourself get distracted again _ . No matter how tempting it was. “Something’s up.” 

Robert’s eyes locked on him for a brief moment before he looked away. He leaned back a little, taking his warm hand with him and running it through his hair instead. 

Wes already missed the contact. 

“I’m fine. I’ve just been kinda stressed out. Tired. Not a big deal.” Robert huffed, still avoiding eye contact. 

Something was definitely off. He looked closer at Robert’s features. Yes, he’d cleaned up and put more care and effort into his appearance tonight, but…there was an exhaustion there that was more than a little tired. He looked worn from stress, more so than normal. What was going on? He looked at Robert, searching his face for answers. “Listen. I want this as badly as you do.” That got Robert’s attention. “But…I know something’s wrong.” His eyes darted away for a moment before returning to Robert’s. “I need to make sure you’re ok.”  _ Please don’t make a decision you’ll regret _ … 

Robert stared at a place on the ground, his eyes narrowing. “You don’t know me that well…” Robert started, his face turning into a frown. 

“I know you use that prickly persona as a façade to keep people away.” Robert’s attention snapped to him, almost looking…shocked? Wes shrugged, raising an eyebrow. “Tell me I’m wrong.” Silence. His lips twitched into a smirk, “That’s what I thought.” He cocked his head to the side, hoping Robert would alleviate his curiosity. Talking was good. Talking kept his mind off other things, particularly that he still had a very handsome man hovering over him.  _ Fuck _ , he needed to get through this. “I can’t imagine why, though…” 

Robert shook his head, once again glaring somewhere on the floor. “I’m not…” He seemed to be struggling to get the words out. “A good person.” He took a deep breath, steeling himself for something. “I spent my whole life only taking, and taking, and taking. And now here I am, an old, broken man sitting on top of a pile of everything I’ve ever taken.” Robert paused, swallowing. “Alone.” He looked so… _ beaten _ . 

He sighed again, watching Robert while taking in everything the man said. “I would have thought by now I’d made it clear that I want to get to know you.  _ You _ , Robert Small.” He gestured to the man above him. “Scratch the mask, forget all the fake stories – as entertaining as they are, and acting like you don’t have feelings. You’re human, just like everybody else.” 

Robert seemed a little taken aback. “It’s…” He sighed heavily, looking for all the world he’d rather be anywhere else. “It’s Val…she’s visiting tomorrow. She…wants to patch things up.” 

He watched as Robert’s demeanor changed, really studying his body language. He narrowed his eyes a little, seeing the sweat beads at the man’s temple. Either Robert’s  _ really _ fucking good at feigning distress, or he’s literally under duress right now. “You’re not bullshitting…this isn’t a bit?” He cautioned, phrasing it as a question. 

The edges of Robert’s lips twitched, but he suppressed the smirk. Still, he shook his head. “No.” 

Humming, he took Robert at his word. He gently prodded. “When was the last time you saw her?” 

Robert was quiet for a long moment. “…Three…four, I think.” 

“Three or four…” He drew out the word, trying to encourage Robert to elaborate. “What are we talkin’? Weeks? Months?” 

“Years.” Robert looked pained as he spoke the word. 

He furrowed his brow at that. He sat up straight, causing Robert to move back. “Jesus, Robert. What happened between you two?” The words were flying out of his mouth before he could stop them.  _ Well, fuck _ . He probably just crossed a line that he shouldn’t have. It wasn’t any of his business… 

“I don’t want to talk about it.” It wasn’t quite a growl, but it was close. 

_ Fair enough _ . They fell into a tense silence, neither of them looking at each other. Damn his curiosity, but he wanted to know. It was obviously important to Robert, otherwise he wouldn’t be acting the way he was now. The longer the silence stretched on, the more concerned he became. At least Robert was still with him on the couch and he hadn’t left to get another drink. Just when he thought they would spend an eternity in limbo, Robert spoke. 

“Fine.” Robert grumbled, but there was no real heat in his voice. It sounded…broken and sad. “Things were already bad between us. I cared about her. I always did. Things just…got in the way. And before I knew it she was leaving for college, wanting nothing to do with me.” Robert paused, briefly looking at him before directing his gaze elsewhere. “Marilyn and I moved out here to settle down – we thought it would help to get away from all the distractions, all the money…the drinking.” He looked resigned as he continued to speak. “But…temptation gets to you. I tried to be better but, I just…couldn’t.” 

Robert sat back further now, crossing his arms. “And then…the accident…changed everything.” He closed his eyes for a long time. When he opened them, he was looking off in the distance somewhere. “I think every day about how she must’ve died hating me. I never became the better man she wanted me to be.” His voice dropped low. “The one she always saw in me.” Robert shook his head, seeming to curl in on himself. “She was the last thread Val and I had connecting us together. I didn’t know that when I lost my wife I was gonna lose my daughter too.” 

Wes was floored. He’d never expected Robert to be so open to him, especially about something so personal. He wanted to take the man back into his arms, but he forced himself to stay still. If Robert wanted comfort, he’d ask for it, right? “Robert…” 

Robert continued on like he hadn’t said anything. “I spent so much time chasing after things I thought were gonna make me happy that I ruined my only real chance at happiness.” He let out a bitter laugh. “Now my wife is dead and my daughter hates me. And  _ then _ \- ” Robert’s voice took on the bitter tone of his laugh. “I convinced myself that this- ” Robert gestured vaguely in Wes’ direction. “Was going to make me happy. Why do I even try anymore.” 

He couldn’t decide if he was touched or offended. Considering what they were talking about, he’d give Robert the benefit of the doubt. He doubted that Robert had any negative intentions…outside of escapism…regarding their relationship. Not after how he acted at the dock, and not after their much needed conversation. He sighed, offering as much empathy as he could without cradling Robert. “I’m so sorry…I know how hard it is to-” 

“No you don’t.” Robert cut him off, tone sharp. “How could you  _ possibly _ know how this feels? You did everything right. Your daughter loves you. You’re a good person. I was a terrible person and I’m an even worse father.” Robert growled, but it wasn’t directed at him. “I have no idea why she’s even bothering to contact me now, I know I’m just gonna fuck it up like I always do. I’m broken. I shouldn’t even go.” Robert’s anger seemed to break, and he rested his head in his hands. 

Wes was quiet for a long time, unsure of what to say. What  _ could _ he say. It hurt to see Robert like this, agonizing over his life this way. It stung a little that Robert thought his life was picture perfect, that he would have no idea what the other man was going through. It took him a long time and a lot of work to be where he was today. There was a time…he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to survive his own loss. He tried to put himself back there, to how he felt, what he thought, the way things seemed through a shattered lens. 

Taking a stabilizing breath, he took the leap. “Nothing’s gonna change until you do.” Robert paused, and looked at him.  _ Good, I have his attention _ . “There are a lot of things in my life that I regret. That I wish I could take back or do over. And it… _ fucking _ sucks and hurts to know that I can’t do that.” He shook his head, trying to get his emotions in check. This was for Robert’s benefit, not his. “But…what I can do, and what  _ you _ have the privilege of doing tomorrow morning…is to wake up and try to be a better person than you were the day before.” He looked at Robert and offered him a gentle smile. “Things aren’t going to fix themselves tomorrow, or the next day. And ‘patching things up’ with Val isn’t going to solve all of your problems, either. It’s a process, and it takes time.” This time he did chance reaching out, letting his hand rest on Robert’s arm. “But nothing is going to change if you don’t. You won’t be able to fully connect with anyone until you stop hating yourself.” 

Wes retracted his hand letting it rest in his lap. “And…you’re right. I don’t know you that well.”  _ But I want to _ . “However, you have the same capacity for good that we all have. And…I know you can find it.” He smiled at Robert, small but kind. “Val is giving you a chance…don’t waste it.” 

“But-” Robert croaked. 

“Robert, listen to me.” He watched Robert’s eyes jump around his face, looking for any tell that he might be lying…that he was about to get to the punch line of some sick joke. It made his heart ache to see his friend like this. “It’s gonna be ok.” 

“But…” Robert tried to object again, but it was weaker and quieter than before. 

_ Screw it! _ He leaned forward and embraced Robert, hugging him as tightly as he could. Robert froze for a second, before burying his head in his shoulder and hugging him back just a tight. It felt like Robert was holding on to him for dear life, and he was more than happy to be that support. “It’s gonna be ok.” He murmured next to Robert’s ear. Robert’s grip on him tightened as he ran a soothing hand along the man’s back. His other hand cradled Robert’s head, combing through the soft hair there. 

Robert shuddered, then let out a sob against his shoulder. He didn’t let go of Robert as he cried, he held him closer. Robert’s hands were fisted in his shirt, trying to find purchase. He could feel the dampness of tears against his neck, and he had to stop himself from tearing up as well. He did the best he could to comfort his friend, and if that meant getting tears and snot on him, so be it. It was worth it… _ he _ was worth it. 

Robert tried to take a deep breath, but it was stilted. “…thank you…” He managed to choke out between sobs. 

He gently turned his head and nuzzled his nose against Robert’s hair. Maybe this was too intimate, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. He placed a gentle kiss against Robert’s head as he continued to cry against him. He continued his comforting ministrations the best that he could, eventually losing complete track of time. He wasn’t sure how long they stayed there wrapped up together, only that at some point they both fell asleep in each others embrace. 

* * *

The next morning, Wes woke up to a heavy weight on him. The weight was pleasantly warm, so he didn’t mind. He didn’t feel like getting up right away, still in a half fugue state of sleep. He made to turn over and found that he couldn’t move, he was firmly under something. Then the warm weight moved, pressing closer against him and let out a quiet groan. He snapped back to reality, suddenly  _ very _ awake. 

Memories from the previous night flooded his mind.  _ That’s right, I’m at Robert’s house _ .  _ So that must mean _ …He lifted his head to look down at the body draped over him. Sure enough, it was Robert, still sleeping soundly by the looks of it. Robert’s arms were still wrapped around him, and he could feel them tighten when he made the slightest movement. He couldn’t say that he minded…it had been a very long time since he’d woken up with someone else, even if it was just a friend. It also gave him the opportunity to observe Robert in this peaceful state. 

They were still fully clothed, with Robert wearing his signature jacket. He loved the look and feel of leather, and it looked damn good on Robert. The man pulled off the tough guy look like it was nothing. It made Robert that much more attractive, and he was already a handsome man. 

It also smelled  _ amazing _ . 

He turned his attention to Robert’s face pillowed against his chest. Even asleep Robert looked exhausted and worn, the stress he was under written all over his face. He wished there was something he could do to ease it, if only a little. The dark circles under his eyes looked a shade lighter.  _ When was the last time he got a good night’s sleep?  _ It must have been some time ago. What little shaving Robert did the day before wasn’t even noticeable now, but he had to admit that he liked the slightly unkempt stubble with streaks of gray. After all, he’d gotten used to Robert looking a certain way, not that he minded the slightly cleaner look, that was very nice too. But looking at his face this close now, in natural light…poor guy looked a little worse for wear. He wasn’t surprised though, not dealing with the kind of stress Robert had been for…he didn’t know how long. 

He became distracted by Robert’s gentle breaths against his neck, lips parted ever so slightly. At least Robert wasn’t drooling on him. He caught a glimpse of the clock on the wall, it was almost 9. As much as he wanted to lay here and hold Robert close, he knew he had things to do. He was sure Robert did too. Deciding to take another small, selfish moment he breathed Robert in, the scent of leather, cigarettes, whiskey, and something distinctly  _ Robert _ mixing together. He could get used to that… 

Knowing the longer he waited, the less motivation he’d have, he forced himself to attempt to wake Robert. He ran his fingers through Robert’s already messy hair, in a poor attempt to fix it. It was an excuse to run his fingers through the man’s soft hair. “Hey…it’s time to get up.” He spoke gently, not wanting to startle Robert. He played with the wisps of hair at the back of Robert’s neck. “C’mon buddy.” 

Robert stirred above him, letting out a long groan. His arms tightened again like a vice, there was no way he was moving unless Robert let him. Robert nuzzled his face into his chest, “…five more minutes…” was the sleepy, slurred whine he received. 

He hummed, “I know it’s early…” the man on top of him seemed to have no intentions of coming back to the land of the living. He decided to use another tactic. “…but you gotta take care of Betsy.” 

“Betsy?” That seemed to get his attention. Robert finally lifted his head and started to blearily look around. He seemed to have that same moment of a sluggish brain trying to make sense of the world around him. Robert’s eyes landed on him, taking a second to register what he was looking at. When recognition clicked, his eyes widened and he practically sprung back, almost toppling them both off the couch. “ _ Shit _ , what…fuck.” He suddenly got a panicked look in his eyes, patting himself down and looking at his own clothes, then looking at Wes. “We…we didn’t…?” 

He was surprised by Robert’s sudden outburst. He tried not to show how it hurt that Robert practically recoiled from him. Looking at him with furrowed brows, he tried to piece together what Robert was getting at. It finally dawned on him and eyebrows shot up.  _ Oh _ . “No…we didn’t…” His tone was gentle, and he refrained from asking the question on the tip of his tongue. 

Robert relaxed, his whole body slumping against the other side of the couch. Their legs were still tangled together, but that didn’t seem to bother him. “That’s…good.” Robert scrubbed his face with his hands, letting out a quiet groan. “I…I don’t...” Robert sighed and looked at him. Robert averted his eyes, dropping his hands in his lap. “I don’t think I could have forgiven myself…if I had used you like that…” Robert looked defeated, rubbing his face again. Seemed like he was processing everything from last night too. 

He could feel agitation itching under his skin until Robert elaborated.  _ Oh, god _ …He hadn’t even thought of that. It hadn’t even crossed his mind. He had been more concerned about Robert’s wellbeing than anything else last night. Sure, he might have thought about sex at first, but not after… “Hey, nothing happened. It’s alright.”

“It’s  _ not _ .” Robert snapped, “I…I was going to… _ Christ _ .” Robert punched the side of his fist into the couch, making Wes jump. “I was about to do the same thing to you. I’m no better than  _ him _ .  _ Fuck _ .” Robert dropped his head into his hands, his shoulders hunching. 

Seeing Robert so upset concerned him. It didn’t matter if anything happened or not, to Robert, it might as well have. “Hey,” He tried to get Robert’s attention, but there was no reaction. He didn’t want to push things too far, but he still wanted to offer what comfort he could. He couldn’t reach Robert’s hands, he was too far away on the couch. Instead, he placed a hand on Robert’s knee. The man stiffened at the touch for a split second before relaxing. “Robert, look at me.” 

Robert finally let his hands drop to his lap. His eyes looked a little more shiny than they did a moment ago. Robert finally looked at him, appearing like it took great effort to do so. 

_ Oh, Robert _ …He smiled at Robert, giving his knee a gentle squeeze. “Don’t compare yourself to that piece of shit. You are  _ nothing _ like Joseph.” He hated that Robert flinched, but he pressed on. “I don’t think you’re giving yourself enough credit here. You had the presence of mind to  _ check in with me _ about something you thought I was uncomfortable with. Not everyone bothers to do that.” 

“But -” Robert tried to reject, but he was having none of it. 

“I wasn’t finished.” Wes chided gently, his tone low and serious. He didn’t want Robert to get the idea he was blowing this off. He needed his words to carry weight. “Robert, that speaks volumes. If you were really the kind of person you’re trying to make yourself out to be, you would have done everything in your power to deflect any and all of my concerns and redirect me into having sex with you.” He swallowed thickly, realizing how close to home that hit for him. “You didn’t do that.” 

“That’s...” Robert interjected, his voice wavering. “That’s not the  _ point _ . The point is that I was  _ going to _ . I thought about it…I thought about it from the moment you stepped into my home…” 

He absently rubbed Robert’s knee, “Do you act on every stupid thought that comes into your head?” He asked honestly, trying to get Robert to see this from a different angle. 

“What does that have to do with anything?” Robert huffed, looking away from him. The silence stretched on for a few minutes. “…no.” Robert finally grumbled. 

Humming, Wes continued with his train of thought. “Alright. For every thought that we have, we make the choice which ones we act on, and which ones we ignore.” He ran his free hand over his hair. “Sure, you thought about it, maybe started to act on it at most…but for whatever reason, you didn’t go through with it. And…I think that counts for a lot.” He patted Robert’s knee. “Don’t get me wrong, that would have been a shitty thing to do, but…nothing happened.” 

Robert scratched behind his ear, looking anxious. He crossed his arms, and looked down at his knee, or maybe Wes’ hand. He could tell that Robert was thinking over what he said, his eyes squinting almost imperceptibly. A couple minutes later, he threw his hands in the air, “ _ Fine _ , I see your point.” Robert still didn’t look like he really believed it, but he didn’t fight it anymore. 

He hummed, seeing that he’d won the battle…for now. Smiling mischievously, he squeezed Robert’s knee to make him jump. “Besides, I’d kick your ass if you tried to do anything like that, to save you from yourself.” He untangled his legs from Robert’s and stood up, stretching out his back. He offered a hand to help Robert off the couch, which he accepted. 

Robert chuckled, “I’m going to hold you to that.” Robert held onto his hand a little longer, before letting it go. “Hey…thank you, again for…for last night.” He looked unsure of himself, like he wanted to do something but was afraid to. 

He wasn’t used to seeing Robert hesitate for anything. Taking a chance, he pulled Robert in for a tight hug. It took a moment, but Robert let out a heavy sigh and returned the embrace.  _ Damn _ , Robert gave nice hugs. “No problem, thank you for trusting me.” He tightened the hug for a second before letting go, brushing a soft kiss on Robert’s cheek before pulling away completely. He could feel his cheeks burning afterwards, there was no way Robert could have missed it. 

To be fair, Robert looked a little surprised himself. Was that too much? It was probably too much. Whelp. He cleared his throat. “I uh…I should be getting home.” 

That seemed to snap Robert out of it. “Right, of course.” Robert tossed his leather jacket aside before walking him to the door. They both turned when they heard tippy taps of nails on hardwood floor. “I should take care of Betsy, don’t want her to wither away to nothing.” 

He smiled down at the little dog. She looked so happy. “We can’t have that.” He slipped his jacket on. “Alright man, good luck with everything.” He tried to be as encouraging as he could, reading the anxiety coming off Robert in waves. “It’s going to be ok. You know you can message me anytime, right?” He waited for Robert’s affirmative, nodding himself. “Ok. I’ll see ya around.” 

Robert murmured his own goodbye. Robert didn’t look…better per se, but he could tell something had changed. Hopefully for the better. He heard the door close behind him, and he was grateful that none of the neighbors were around to see his walk of shame. Could it really be called that if they didn’t do anything? They were still friends after all, friends visit each other all the time. There was nothing weird about it, he just needed to act…natural. 

Great, now he felt like he had to overplay it. Fuck. He hurried home, sliding his key in to unlock the door with ease – for once. At least he didn’t have to look like an idiot fumbling with his own deadbolt. Once safely inside, he locked the door, and let out the breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. He tossed his keys and wallet on the side table and hung up his jacket. Checking the time, Amanda wouldn’t be up for another few hours. He had plenty of time to clean up and prepare himself for the day…maybe even make a nice breakfast for himself and his daughter. 

His thoughts drifted to Robert. He hoped everything went ok with him and Val. He hoped  _ Robert _ would be ok. It would be really good for them, he thought. Robert deserved happiness in his life, and the way he talked about Val…he could tell that Robert still cared for her a great deal and was so damn proud of her. Val had already opened the door for him, now all Robert had to do was walk through. 

He sent a silent prayer to the Universe,  _ please let everything go well for them _ …

* * *

He wasn’t surprised when he didn’t hear from Robert, he was hopeful, but didn’t expect anything from it. Robert was a pretty private guy, and he wasn’t the most…engaged when it came to keeping up. He guessed it had something to do with the whole brooding loner thing Robert put out as a front. Still, it was a little disheartening to not hear from him after what happened between them. 

Where did they stand, anyway? He was more confused than he had been before their last outing. He knew that Robert was interested, the man had made that perfectly clear about a month ago. But…they hung out so sporadically. After that whole thing with Robert’s…he didn’t really want to call it a breakdown, but he wasn’t sure what else it could have been. He was worried about Robert, but knew that trying to press him about it would only make things worse. If Robert felt the need to talk to him about…stuff, he’d do it. 

Right? 

He chided himself, it’d barely been a week since that night. As busy as he’d managed to become, his mind still went back over everything that happened that night, and the following morning. Some of the things that Robert said about himself had him concerned. He wasn’t any kind of professional people reader or anything, but there was…a lot to process. Something told him that was a long time coming for Robert. 

Sighing, he focused back on his work. With his special items coming any time now, he needed to spruce up his backyard. He’d already picked the best area and measured it out so he knew how much work he would need to do. First thing to do was get up all the dead grass in his yard. As much as he despised Brian giving him shit for his yard, he’d been right about this one thing at least. He could not deny that Brian had a nicer looking yard than he did, the bastard. 

So here he was, rake in hand, doing his best to clean up his yard. He’d meant to start it earlier in the morning before it got so hot outside, but he’d gotten distracted by the food channel. Those competition shows really knew how to hook you in. He took a moment to wipe the sweat from his brow, the summer sun beating down on him. He couldn’t wait for the cooler weather to start rolling in, the heat was not his friend. Maybe he should take a break and get some water… 

_ Damn it, focus!  _ He’d maybe been out here for fifteen minutes most and he already felt like he was dying. Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to get back to work. Once he got into a rhythm, he relaxed and was able to concentrate on his work. The easy motions of pulling the rake back and then resetting it to dig into the grass again was meditative. The familiar motions made his mind wander, feeling the familiar similarities with warm-ups he used to do for his Art. Soon his feet started sweeping around him as he raked, landing in stances still ingrained in his memory before swishing around him again. 

Before too long, he’d lost sight of what he was supposed to be doing. No longer was he raking his lawn to get the dead grass up, he was going through movements he hadn’t done in almost a decade…and it felt  _ amazing _ . A peaceful smile curled his lips as he incorporated more advanced movements with his rake, dancing around the tool in his hands. He swooped the rake end around him, feeling the familiar burn of being out of practice. He kept the rake head’s movements close to the ground, not trusting himself to do harsh cuts without the rake flying out of his hands. 

“The hell are you doing?” 

His focus came to a screeching halt just as he was doing a gentle sweeping motion against the ground. Instead, the rake had clawed into the grass before he swept it up in an arc he couldn’t control, causing dead grass to shower him in the most unflattering way possible. He stood frozen in place, only having just gotten control of the rake with it still held awkwardly over his head. He turned the rake around in his hands so the head was against the ground and he stood as casually as he could. 

He turned his attention to Robert, clearing his throat and doing his best to ignore the burning embarrassment creeping across his face. “Would you believe…raking my lawn?” 

“No.” Robert’s answer was flat, but the edges of his lips twitched. He stood near the gate to the backyard with his arms crossed, looking as intimidating as he usually did. Maybe he was feeling a little better. 

A young woman standing next to Robert huffed, making her presence known. She was dressed to the nines, but somehow weirdly complemented Robert’s grungy normal outfit. She had her arms loosely crossed, and stood with her weight to one side. She had an aura that screamed attitude and he knew looking at her that she’d take no shit from anyone.  _ Especially _ the man next to her. That must be Val. 

Still, it was rude to make presumptions. She didn’t look like the hand shaking type, so he gave a little wave from where he was standing. “Hey! I don’t think we’ve met.” 

“Oh, we’ve met. Years ago.” She drawled, looking at him like he was a dead man walking. “And I’m here for my revenge.” 

Well, that left no doubt in his mind. Wes pursed his lips and cocked an eyebrow, his gaze shifting over to Robert. The man looked so damn proud, of course he did. “Ah, well, it was a mistake to alert me of your intentions.” He made a show of flipping the rake around, before curling it under his arm and getting into a defensive stance. “Come at me, if you dare.” 

A smile curled her lips and she looked impressed. “Hmph…I’m not feeling it anymore, guess you live.” Her grin turned mischievous. “For now.” 

He’d take that as a win. He put the rake back into a resting position. “So what brings you to my humble backyard?” It wasn’t like Robert to stop by spontaneously, at least not on an average day. He should be off spending time with his daughter, not crashing his backyard. He caught sight of Robert shifting, looking a little..sheepish?  _ Huh _ . 

“It’s my last day in town,” Val started by saying, side eyeing her father. “I insisted that I wanted to meet the man my father speaks highly of before I left.” She uncrossed her arms and placed her hands on her hips. “I want to have at least one contact here in case his ass needed kicking, since I’m not going to be around to do it.” 

He smiled, playing along. “I think I could do that for ya.” He felt like he was being studied, her eyes feeling like they were looking into him. He couldn’t blame her for being worried, if this was how she showed she cared, that was fine. 

“Val can be… _ persistent _ when she wants to be.” Robert grumbled, but he didn’t look upset in the slightest. 

“Wonder where I got that from.” She snarked, turning her piercing gaze on Robert. 

“Haven’t the foggiest…” Robert countered. He looked like he was going to say something else, but a buzzing from his jacket interrupted. Robert pulled out his phone and squinted at the screen, muttering under his breath. He looked at Val, phone vibrating in his hand as he hesitated. 

Val rolled her eyes. “Dad, take the call, it’s fine.” She waved him off when he waited a second too long. “ _ Really _ , it’s fine. Go.” 

Robert let out a huff, but retreated from the backyard, going out beyond the gate. 

The hair at the back of his neck stood on end. He had the sudden feeling that he was about to be interrogated. 

Val waited for a moment, listening to make sure Robert was out of earshot. She then turned her attention back to him, and her demeanor shifted. “Look. I don’t know you, but can I get real for a sec?” She didn’t wait for him to answer. “My old man’s a real closed book, you know? Me and him, we got a long way to go. You don’t erase decades of neglect in a week, but you sure can get tired of staying angry about it.” Val suddenly became more interested in her nails. “That kind of bitterness…it poisons you, I think. I’m too young for that.” 

Wes felt his heart clench for the woman in front of him. He got an idea about what it was like for her to grow up from Robert, but…hearing that from her was heartbreaking. He couldn’t fully imagine what that must have been like…he had a pretty good idea if his experience was anything to go by. But now was…not the time to share solidarity, he knew that’s not what she was looking for. He waited patiently for her to continue, his eyes darting towards the gate to keep lookout. 

“Anyway.” She crossed her arms again, looking at him. “Lately he’s been…better. A lot better. And between him shaving for once and how much he talks about you, I get the feeling you have something to do with it. So…thanks.” 

“Robert means a lot to me.” He said without much thought because…well it was true. He  _ did _ care about Robert, and only wanted to see the man happy. It touched him that Val thought he had something to do with Robert’s improvement. “I’m glad he’s getting better.” 

Val smiled, a genuine one. “Just…keep an eye on him while I’m not around, ok? I was being serious earlier.” 

“Yes ma’am.” He said with a little two fingered salute. His eyes darted to the opening gate, signaling Robert’s return. 

Val already heard the gate opening, turning a calculating stare on him. She raised an eyebrow and that’s the only warning he got. 

Robert took his place again next to Val, taking in the situation. 

He did his best to look at Robert with the most pathetic puppy dog eyes that he could muster. “ _ Help _ .” He stage-whispered. 

Robert smirked, raising an eyebrow. “She physically threaten you?” Robert chuckled when he nodded. “That’s my girl.” Robert turned a critical eye on him. “Don’t tell me that’s how you taught your daughter to handle conflict…” 

His lips threatened to twitch into a smirk. “Nah, I knew that she would be on her own one day, so I taught her everything I know.” He casually leaned on the rake. 

“You taught her everything you know…” Robert repeated, sounding skeptical. 

“Everything.” He confirmed. He suddenly got a sinking feeling in his gut that he was about to be in for a hot second of pain. 

Robert crossed his arms, looking at Val. She shrugged, but seemed interested in what was happening. “Alright. Prove it.” 

_ What. _ “Prove it…?” He blinked, trying to process the request. “What, right now?” 

“Right now.” Robert’s smirk was full of challenge. 

_ Fuck _ . 

Just then, the backdoor slid open and Amanda poked her head out with almost comedic timing. “Hey pops, you just got a delivery from the Gymnastics Surplus store.” She paused, looking from him to Robert, then to Val. “Uh…did I interrupt something?” 

_ FUCK _ . 

_ That was surprisingly fast _ . “Not at all Panda.” He handed the rake to Robert who took it with a confused look. Taking a deep breath, he walked over to Amanda, putting a hand on his hip. At this point, he didn’t really care if either of them heard him, it didn’t matter. “Hey, sweetie, Robert wanted to see your…skills. You know, the stuff I taught you,  _ just in case _ .” 

Amanda’s brows rose almost to her hairline. “Whoa, dad, are you sure?” She seemed hesitant, her eyes darting over to Robert and Val again. 

“Yes…just don’t  _ launch _ me, ok?” He resigned himself to the pain he was about to endure. He knew that Amanda had phenomenal control, and she wouldn’t hurt him too bad. It would just be…unpleasant, but that came with the territory. 

She thought for a moment more, then nodded, looking determined. “Yeah! Lets do this! What did you have in mind?” Amanda came fully out of the doorway, looking ready for a fight. 

“Hmm…” He thought for a moment, then grabbed her wrist roughly and started dragging her into the yard. He knew he was about to get flattened, but he kept his grip tight, giving a moderate yank that pulled Amanda off balance. 

With quick movements, she trapped his hand against her wrist and dropped her elbow over his arm, twisting her hips. He immediately went down on a knee, slapping the ground with his free hand.  _ Good, she wasn’t going easy _ . She let go and he stood back up, this time grabbing her upper arm. Amanda reacted, pushing at his knee with her foot to make him lose balance and loosen his grip on her arm. She peeled his fingers off her, locking his wrist and cutting him down. He slapped the ground again, she let go. 

With a grunt, he stood, this time going around behind her, curling one arm around her neck from the back, and grabbing her wrist with his other hand. She stomped her foot down, and threw her hips into his, distracting him. She slid under his arm while grabbing his hand and twisting, causing pain to shoot through his arm. He slapped his own shoulder and she let go.  _ What else _ …He stepped back a little, before launching himself towards her with a backhanded swing. Amanda threw her hands up, moving in the same direction he was, blocking the attack while catching his arm and cutting down, almost throwing him forward onto the ground. She let go in time for him to stumble forward to regain his balance. 

_ Alright, time for the finale _ …He went around behind his daughter, giving her a tight bear hug to trap her arms, and lifted her off the ground. Shit, this was harder to do than it was when she was younger…Amanda hissed, starting to wiggle vigorously in his grasp. He had no choice but to move with her, taking an accidental step as soon as she hit the ground.  _ Oh, fuck _ … 

“ _ Hya _ !” With a shout, Amanda threw herself forward with all her force, her arms shot out in front of her and turned her body so that he sailed past her. 

He only had a split second to decide what to do, not expecting to be thrown. Instinctively, he tucked himself in and half rolled, half slammed into the ground. As soon as his shoulder hit, and his hips passed over his head, he relaxed at much as he could and let his body flop onto the ground with more force than he would have liked. He managed to stop short of slamming into Robert, the surprised look on his face making all of this worth it. He lay there for a moment on the hard ground, and let out a groan. “…ow.” 

“Dad!” Amanda rushed over, looking down at him. “Are you ok?” 

“You did the thing I asked you not to do…” Wes wheezed, still not moving on the ground. “…I’ll live.” 

At least Amanda looked embarrassed for almost killing her father. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to throw you that hard…” 

He chuckled, grabbing the hand Robert offered him to stand back up. He gave Robert a grateful look. “Don’t be, just means that you won’t hesitate out on the street. That’s a  _ good _ thing.” Even if he took a little bit of a beating, he couldn’t be more proud of his daughter. He turned his attention back to Robert. “Was that satisfactory enough?” He dusted himself off, grass falling off his clothing. It was too much effort to pick the grass out of his hair, so he left it for now. 

Robert hummed. “Yeah, she’ll be just fine.” Robert handed back the rake, and Wes grabbed it without a second thought. 

Val looked impressed, appraising Amanda. “Looks like you have some badass competition, old man.” 

Amanda turned her attention to Val, seeming to just now register her. She waved, “Hey! I love your necklace! And your hair! And just, jeez, your whole vibe is cool.” 

Val’s painted lips curled into a smile. “Thanks. I like your jacket. My girlfriend collects pins too.” 

He cleared his throat, reminding himself that he needed to introduce them. “This is my daughter Amanda.” He then caught Amanda’s attention for a second and motioned to Val. “Amanda this is Robert’s daughter, Val.” 

“Nice meeting you, that was an impressive display to put on there.” Val hummed. “I heard you’re a photographer.” 

Amanda beamed. “Aspiring photographer. I’m going to school for it.” 

“You take pictures?” Val asked with a sly smile. 

“Yes…?” Amanda responded, drawing out the answer. 

“Then you’re a photographer.” Val reached a hand into her jacket. “Welcome to the biz.” She handed Amanda a business card. “If you’re ever looking for internships, shoot me an email.” 

Amanda looked ecstatic, practically vibrating with energy. “Wow! Thanks!” She stuck the business card in her jacket, and looked at her watch. “Oh, crap, I gotta go. It was nice to see you again Mr. Small, and meeting you!” She waved enthusiastically before bolting back inside the house. 

As soon as the door had slid shut, Val tried to cover a laugh with her hand. “ _ Mr. Small _ . I don’t think I’ve ever heard you called that in my life.” 

Robert grumbled, but didn’t say anything, shoving his hands in his pockets. 

Val rolled her eyes, still chuckling to herself. “Are you ready to get going?” She asked, gesturing to the gate. 

Robert shifted his weight, his eyes flicking to Wes for a brief moment. “Almost. You head on, I’ll catch up. I won’t be long.” 

She hesitated a moment, looking between them for a second before nodding and leaving through the gate. She pulled it closed behind her. 

And then there were two. Only he and Robert remained in the backyard. There was something about this silence that wasn’t comfortable, but he couldn’t put his finger on what it could be. He must be overthinking it, his anxiety was still running a little high from being caught doing weird stuff in his backyard. 

Robert looked over his shoulder at the gate and frowned. He gestured further into the yard, motioning towards his cherry tree. Robert walked next to him, resting a hand at the small of his back, urging him forward. 

Thinking he didn’t need to be talking to Robert with a rake in his hands anymore, he tossed it closer to the house. He could feel the warmth of Robert’s hand at his back, the feeling comforting. He was guided under the cherry tree, and Robert turned to face him. He searched Robert’s face for any answers, but the man was as unreadable as ever. The only clues Robert offered was in his posture, which was…off. The thought flittered away as soon as Robert smiled.  _ Damn him and his rugged charm _ !

“Hey.” Robert spoke as if they hadn’t been having a completely different conversation not two minutes ago. 

He smiled brightly back. “Hey.” He’d play along for now. It must be important if Robert was going about it this way. 

Robert paused for a moment, his eyes darting away. He gestured to the other end of the yard. “Good stuff. You must be very proud of Amanda.” 

“Yep.” He practically beamed at the compliment. “I think I did pretty good with her.” He tried not to elaborate too much, knowing that it was a little bit of a sore spot for Robert. He didn’t want to make Robert feel any worse about Val, even if she was just a few yards away. He tried for something a little lighter. “So…Val told me you’ve been doing better…” Why was he trying to small talk, this was a bad idea. 

Despite his attempt at light conversation, Robert looked a little distant. Robert’s eyes flicked to his before looking elsewhere. “Trying to work on the vices. I…also showered today.” Robert was trying, so Wes stayed quiet, waiting for him to continue. They stood in silence for a few minutes before Robert spoke again. “You know, every day for me is a battle against my own self-destructive habits. But…lately, it’s gotten a little easier.” Robert looked at him then, seeming to search his face for an answer he didn’t know the question to. “Thanks for talking some sense into me. It’s hard to get things through my thick skull sometimes, but…what you said that night has actually helped.” 

His smile softened. “I’m glad.” Wes didn’t expect miracles, or anything to change overnight. He had only hoped that Robert had thought about what he said, and to know that he took it to heart? It meant the world to him. He couldn’t take any of the credit, though. Robert had been doing all the work on his own, he’d only pointed him in a direction. 

Robert smiled, a genuine smile. The kind of smile that he didn’t see very often and made his stomach do flips. “I like you. I like you a lot.” Robert himself almost seemed surprised at the words leaving his mouth. “I haven’t felt like this about someone in a long time.” 

He, on the other hand, couldn’t take his eyes  _ away _ from Robert’s mouth. Having Robert imply that he liked him, and was interested, was completely different from hearing it said outright. He could feel his cheeks burning with heat, and he couldn’t stop the dopey grin curling his lips. Without any thought, he leaned in and kissed Robert, resting his hands on Robert’s arms. It also surprised him that he’d made the first move this time. The kiss was soft, heartfelt…much different from the last time they had kissed. Everything seemed right with the world. 

After a moment, Robert pulled away. Robert gently took one of his hands from his arm, holding it close instead. He still had a smile, but his eyes looked sad. “You’re…special to me.” Robert dropped his gaze down to the hand he held. “But…I have some stuff I need to work on…uh, emotionally…before I can get into anything romantic with you. You deserve better than who I am right now.” Robert rubbed his thumb along his knuckles. “I need to be on my own for a bit. Figure some things out.” 

_ Oh _ . He’d felt a surge of panic before Robert completed his thought. Flashbacks from Amanda’s graduation coming to the front of his mind. He shook the thoughts away. “Of course.” Robert wasn’t dumping him, they were never an item to begin with. He didn’t want to hope too much that they may be something in the future, but…it was alluring. That little carrot on the end of the stick that was so tempting. “I think what you need right now is a friend, and I’m very happy to be that for you.” That was the most important thing after all. That they were first and foremost, friends. 

Robert’s genuine smile grew a little, and some of the sadness ebbed away. “Thank you. That means a lot to me.” 

He turned his hand around in Robert’s grip so he could give a gentle squeeze. “And if you’re ever ready for more than that…you know where to find me.” He did his best to make it sound lighthearted. He didn’t want Robert to think that a romantic relationship meant more to him than a friendship. He was happy with that. Sure, he’d like to have had more, but this was more than enough for him right now. Robert’s wellbeing was more important to him. 

Robert hummed. “Let’s hunt ghosts sometime?” He sounded completely serious. 

It tickled Wes that he’d been asked to go out and hunt ghosts with Robert. Him, hunt ghosts! Now that was something he could get behind. “I would love that.” He meant it, too. He was happy to spend time with Robert, even hunting ghosts and cryptids. It was the quality of the time spent with someone, right? 

That seemed to brighten Robert’s mood, and something about him seemed to relax. “Cool.” They stood there a moment, Robert still holding his hand with their eyes locked. Then Robert did something unexpected; he leaned in and hugged him tight. 

He didn’t even hesitate to return the hug. He held Robert close, gently rubbing the man’s back. His face was close to Robert’s neck, and he bet that Robert could feel his breath against his skin.  _ Damn, he smells nice _ …He felt Robert tighten his grip a moment, and bury his face into his neck. 

“Thank you…” Robert mumbled into his neck, having trouble finding words. Robert sighed against his neck, sending shivers down his spine. Robert seemed hesitant to let go, but he finally pulled away, but not completely. His eyes had a slight sheen to them, but he blinked it away quickly. Robert opened his mouth to say something, then thought better of it. He looked over his shoulder. “I should get going, don’t want Val hunting me down.” 

“Wouldn’t want the hunter to become the prey, after all.” He said in a light tone. He got Robert to laugh, which was what he was going for. “Alright, off you go.” 

Robert pulled away slowly, his hands trailing down his arms and briefly holding his hands before letting go. “I’ll see ya around.” He took a step back, before turning around and heading for the gate. 

He called after him, “I’m holding you to that ghost hunt!” He only received a laugh in return before Robert disappeared through the gate. He couldn’t help the stupid grin that split his face. At least they were on the same page more or less now. He didn’t have to feel like he was toeing around in the dark trying to figure out where they stood. Robert needed time, and he was happy to give it to him. He remembered the kind of strength and effort to pull himself out of his own depressive and destructive habits all those years ago. It was a process, and it was never straightforward. But, he’d be there for his friend, if Robert ever needed him. 

He surveyed the backyard, seeing there was still a lot of work to be done to get it into the shape he wanted. He picked the rake back up and went back into it with gusto. He had a path forward now, it might not have been clear, but it was there. As he dug deep to upend the dead grass, he idly thought that he’d need to leave his phone on at all times. After all, Robert wasn’t on a normal people schedule, he was on Robert Time. 

It was sure to be one hell of an adventure, and he looked forward to every second of it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hooray the set up is done! It only took four chapters, but whatever. Hope ya'll enjoy.


	5. It's a Bro-ment Dude

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey look I'm not dead, have another chapter. This one is a little different as I switch character perspectives for part of it. This will happen a few more times in the story.
> 
> Warnings: Brief conversation/mutual banter about chokes.

Brooding. 

It was something he was good at, had done for a long time. He almost suspected that he’d perfected the art over the years. Kept his mind busy, even if it went places he’d rather it not go. No help for it, it would either happen, or it wouldn’t. It didn’t really matter anyway. 

Nothing ever mattered anyway. 

But, he’d had a lot to brood about lately. It was easy to fill his ambiguous quota. Between reconnecting with his daughter, and whatever this… _ thing _ was he had with Wes, his mind was kept busy. It was easier to keep his demons away during the world’s waking hours, but when the sun went down…he knew exactly where he’d end up. 

A continuing spiral that brought him ever closer to the drain he was circling. 

How poetic for how fucked up his life was. 

It had gotten a little better as of late, sure. It wasn’t nearly enough though. Even with the support of Val and Wes, he couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. As far as he was concerned, they were wasting their time. It was only a matter of time before they both got tired of him and left. Everyone left in the end, it was a bitter truth he’d accepted a long time ago. Val would get sick of his shit and drop him like a hot stone, same as she did after her mother died. Then there was Wes. He still couldn’t comprehend why that idiot was putting effort into a broken shell of a man. He thought he’d made it clear that he just wasn’t worth it. Wes deserved better than him, so much better. Out of anyone in this damned city, Wes had to affiliate himself with  _ him _ . 

Robert puffed out a heavy sigh, pushing the thoughts away. He closed his eyes and just… _ felt _ . It was a comfortably cool morning, but the sun breaking through the trees warmed his skin and his leather jacket. The dirt beneath his boots was solid, and if he focused enough he could smell the earth and the greenery around him. It was rare that he was awake this time of day, normally he didn’t bother crawling out of bed until well into the afternoon. It was almost pleasant, sitting here on the park bench. He was far away enough from the main part of the park that he didn’t need to worry about anyone stumbling upon him and bothering him. He liked his space and his privacy. 

His ears caught the sound of a twig snapping, but he didn’t move. It was probably a squirrel or other woodland animal. It wasn’t uncommon for him to see deer in these woods. They kept to themselves, and he kept to himself. It was a perfect system. Most cryptids only came out at night, so he didn’t need to worry about that either. The chances of anyone coming this far outside the park were – 

Another twig snapped and he heard the sounds of crunching leaves and forest debris. Footfalls. One, no, two individuals. One set was heavier than the other, like they’d never walked in forest brush before. Unsurprising, if you didn’t walk in the forest on a regular basis, you’d be unsure of your footing as well. Luckily, that had never been his issue, he spent enough time in the woods around the area that he could practically map them on the back of his hand. 

If he was lucky, it was just two lost idiots that had wandered too far off the trail and they wouldn’t get anywhere near him. Maybe if he pretended that he wasn’t there, he could blend into his surroundings. And if he was discovered…well, he could feel the weight of the knives he kept on himself at all times. He’d use them if he had to, but the cleanup would be such a bitch… 

He stayed still in his place, barely breathing while he strained his ears to track the footsteps. Sounded like they were getting closer to his position, no, they were definitely coming his way. He clenched his jaw against the anger that flared up. He was having such a peaceful morning by himself, now it was getting ruined by whatever jackoffs were coming to bother him. 

“Hey Rob.” 

_ Fuck _ . He froze for a split second at the voice. Bracing himself, he stood from the bench and turned around to face the voice. “Don’t call me that.” He grit out, falling into his façade easily. Despite his tough outward appearance, he was grateful  _ this _ was the person who had come bothering him. He had to force himself not to smile, catching sight of the man in front of him. 

“Ok, hey Robert.” Wes tried again. He was dressed for exercising; running shoes, loose shorts, and a tee shirt reading ‘MEH’ in blocky lettering. Judging by the amount of sweat staining the shirt, comically shaped like a frowny face, he’d been out for a while. Wes had an easy demeanor, relaxed as always, even with his subtle posturing. 

Craig stood off to the side, looking much more uncomfortable. River was strapped to his chest, like always. 

“Don’t call me that either.” Robert bit out, the words tumbling out of his mouth before he could think. Not what he wanted to start off with, but he’d go with it for now. He knew this was the very thing that Wes had told him about before, and he knew he needed to try harder, but…old habits are hard to break. 

Wes raised an eyebrow, giving him an unimpressed look. Based on his demeanor, he wasn’t planning on taking any of Robert’s bullshit today. Good. “Right…” Wes shifted his weight, placing a hand on his hip. “Hey,  _ buddy _ .” He drawled with sarcastic emphasis. Wes might have been playing along, but he wasn’t going to make it easy on Robert. 

Before things could escalate, Craig chimed in. “What are you up to?” It was clear that he wasn’t comfortable being in these woods, and even more uncomfortable with the exchange between himself and Wes. 

Robert decided on annoyance, that tended to weird out people around him. “Thinking. This is my Thinking Bench.” While not quite a lie, it was enough of a truth that he could play off it. “I have to get a solid two to three hours of brooding in per day. Filling quotas.” 

Craig piped up again, clearly trying to move things along as quickly as possible. “Have you by any chance seen a small stuffed Capybara around?” 

Wes started to clarify, “A capybara is - ” 

“It’s a large rodent native to South America. I know.” Robert finished for him, crossing his arms in the process. He could easily read the nervousness off of Craig, but he wasn’t sure if that was because he was intimidating, or that his kid could lose it at any moment. Maybe a bit of both. He was closer friends with Craig than most of the dads on the block, and he had no doubt in his mind that Craig was a little afraid of him. All of the other dads were afraid of him actually. Well, except Wes, the lunatic. He liked it that way. 

Craig looked hopeful at that. “So have you seen one?” He backtracked a little, “A stuffed one. Not a real one. That would be weird.” 

“Hmm…” Robert hummed a noncommittal answer. He wasn’t sure what these two had planned up their sleeves, but he wanted to find out. Something told him he was going to have fun with this. It might make him an asshole, but he was going to take every opportunity to make Craig feel uncomfortable and nervous around him. 

Wes let out a huff, “C’mon Robert. Just tell us what you know and you can get back to your brooding.” He opened his mouth to say something else, but Craig stepped forward and got shoulder to shoulder with Wes. 

“Bad cop time.” Craig did his best to look intimidating, but it was hard to do that with River strapped against his chest. “Robert, if you don’t help us, I’m gonna put you in a headlock.” He made a show of cracking his knuckles. 

_ Oh, that’s cute _ . Craig’s trying to look all tough. Well, Robert was there to ruin his day. He kept his arms crossed, smirking and dropping his voice. “Is that a threat or a promise?” He made sure to make his smile more a baring of teeth than anything else. That always sent people running for the hills. 

Craig was no different. He backed down almost immediately. “Whoa, slow down.” It looked like Craig was weighing his options to flee, not just the conversation but the forest as well. 

Robert was about to hail victory when he caught a look in Wes’ eyes. That was a dangerous look that could only spell trouble. He couldn’t wait to see what Wes came up with. 

Wes tapped the back of his hand against Craig’s arm, getting his attention, but never looked away from Robert. His eyes were focused and determined, and a challenging smirk curled his lips. “I’ll raise you a choke.” He spoke with no hesitancy and the words rolled off his tongue in temptation. 

_ Interesting _ . Robert let out a low dark chuckle, showing no signs of backing down. “Kinky.” 

The intensity of his gaze never wavered. “I know the difference between self defense and murder…” The grin on Wes’ face only grew, turning almost feral. “Do  _ you _ ?” 

Robert felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle, sending a tingling down his spine. He almost faltered when Wes all but purred out those two words. Almost. He had no doubt in his mind that Wes wasn’t bluffing, and he couldn’t help feeling a little excited all the same. He hadn’t been wrong when he thought that keeping Wes around would make his life more interesting. 

As much fun as he was having making Craig look about ready to pop, and he really didn’t have any useful information for them. Having raised a kid himself, he knew those two were on a time crunch to find that stuffed animal. Knowing it was better to leave them to their search, he uncrossed his arms and made himself look imposing. He narrowed his eyes and growled, putting threat into his voice and posture. “Back off.” 

Craig didn’t need any more encouragement and all but flew in the opposite direction. Wes was a little slower to go. The intensity melted away as his posture relaxed, and made a point of catching Robert’s eye. He shook his head and rolled his eyes, a real smile playing on his lips before he turned and walked after Craig. 

Robert waited until he couldn’t hear them crunching anymore before he turned back around and sat down on his bench. Wes had clearly let him know he was in on the act, so maybe he had a bit of a mean streak too. He hadn’t expected his morning to be so entertaining, but here he was. He’d keep an eye out, just in case they ended up coming back. Nothing would escape him where he was, if anything happened in these woods, he’d know about it. 

He had just gotten comfortable on his bench again when he heard a twig snap. He resisted a groan not wanting to deal with those two again so soon. Listening carefully, he realized the footsteps were much quieter, so not adults. Keeping perfectly still, he barely breathed as two figures came into his line of sight. 

Ugh, of course. Joseph’s twins. They didn’t even notice him as they went deeper into the woods. Robert kept an eye on them until he couldn’t see them anymore. He never liked them and he could never get a read on them. There was something… _ off _ about those two. He didn’t even want to know what they were getting up to. He’d take dealing with a pissed off cryptid over those two any day. He wouldn’t be surprised if they had some kind of devil worshiping cult deep in these woods. Stranger things have happened. 

When he felt they were far enough away, he let himself relax a little. So much for his peaceful morning. He’d already dealt with more people than he would have liked today. His capacity for social interaction had shriveled up into practically nothing these days. Even with people he liked. Val had given him a bunch of shit about it, saying he couldn’t learn to deal with people if he never bothered to leave the house. He agreed just to get her off his back, but deep down he knew she was right. Too bad he hated people. 

Well, most people. 

He didn’t have much time to go too deep into his thoughts, the sound of heavy clomping coming closer again.  _ God damnit _ . He breathed out a sigh, this just wasn’t his morning. Preparing to be accosted again, he hunched his shoulders and crossed his arms. He almost hated how easy it was for him to fall into this role, but he’d been playing the part for so long now it was integrated at this point. He waited until they were about as close as last time. 

Robert made a point of turning around in his seat and looking as annoyed as possible. “Oh, Christ, what now?” He grumbled. When he caught sight of Craig and Wes, however, it gave him pause. 

Wes had made a complete 180 into the shitter. His mood had shifted into something dower, aggravation clear in his demeanor. He almost looked about ready to punch something. Wes wasn’t an intimidating guy, but the presence he held right now, it made Craig seem downright cuddly.  _ Damn, that’s hot _ . Robert suspected that Wes wasn’t in the mood for games anymore. This was not the same man he’d been having fun with earlier. What the hell happened? 

When Wes didn’t say anything, Craig spoke up. “I think you were holding out on us earlier, Bro.” His eyes kept darting to Wes, a look of concern lining his features. 

He tucked that bit of information away. He rolled his eyes and appeared disinterested. “I got nothing more for you.” He grumbled. He thought about reaching for his cigarettes, but stopped himself. Not with the kid around. He waved his hand at them dismissively, “Get lost.” 

Wes narrowed his eyes at Robert. “I’d threaten to kick your ass, but you’d probably be into that…” 

Robert’s wrist twitched with phantom pain, remembering what Wes had done almost two months ago. He felt that tingle down his spine again, not liking where this conversation was going. He did his best to hold his ground, but the look in Wes’ eyes had him worried. 

“So,” Wes took a step forward, putting Craig and River just behind him. “If you don’t tell us what you know, I’ll spoil the season finale of Long Haul Paranormal Ice Road Ghost Truckers.” 

“You’re bluffing.” Robert shot back. He’d never taken Wes for the cruel type, but this was crossing the line. 

Craig looked more and more nervous by the second. “My buddy here doesn’t play by the rules. Wes will do it.” This kind of setting was not his jam.

Robert and Wes stared at each other, neither backing down. The seconds ticked by like hours. Somewhere in the forest, a crow cawed. Wes made the final move. “Callum and Flynt crash into a haunted - ” 

“Stop! You’re a monster.” Robert grit his teeth, keeping an eye on Wes. He noticed there was no sense of victory in the man’s face, just grim determination. Whatever happened in the time they had gone must have really messed Wes up. He’d only seen Wes like this when… 

Robert threw his hands up in the air, “I told you, I haven’t seen any goddamn capybara! What is you guys damage?” 

Wes let out a heavy sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. He suddenly looked exhausted. “Damn it, I was hoping…” He muttered under his breath, defeated. 

“Now what, Bro?” Craig was doing his absolute best to distract River and keep her entertained. He also looked relieved that the standoff was over. “Joseph said his twins were around here somewhere, but I have no idea how we’re supposed to find them.” 

_ Joseph, of course _ . No wonder Wes’ mood turned so sour. Hell, his own mood plummeted when he saw Joseph’s spawn. “Wait, those creepy kids? Why didn’t you tell me they had something to do with this?” Good thing he kept an ear and eye out. He knew exactly where to find the little brats. 

“Yeah!” Craig got excited at that little bit of information. “Robert, Bro! Do you know where they are?” River gurgled and waved her arms at her father’s enthusiasm. 

Robert smirked, his cocky attitude put in place. He crossed his arms before he answered. “I do. A lot of people underestimate the senses of the man who broods. I saw them lurking here a little while ago.” He jerked his thumb in the direction he last saw them sneaking in. “Ran into the woods. I’d be careful though. I don’t trust ‘em.” He crossed his arms again, watching the two carefully. “But then again I don’t trust anyone. Not even you guys. Not even that baby.” He gestured in River’s direction, and she babbled happily. “I take that back. You’re an old soul, kiddo.” 

Craig beamed. “Thanks for your help, Robert.” He got Wes’ attention and steered him in the right direction. Wes stalked after him without looking back at Robert. He could have sworn he heard a low rumbling sound, but it was hard to hear as they walked away. “Bro! You’re growling again.” Craig looked at his friend with concern. 

“Sorry.” Wes mumbled, almost too far away to hear. 

Robert watched them go, listening to the sound of their footsteps until he couldn’t anymore. It had not been the quiet morning he was hoping for. What happened with Wes was concerning. Robert didn’t like seeing him that way. If anyone should be moody and miserable, it ought to be himself. He tried to think of something that would cheer Wes up. 

Christ, he still couldn’t handle caring for another person. He didn’t know why he was bothering to try, but he was, and that was the most jarring thing. He was actually starting to give a shit. It had been so long since he’d wanted to give, rather than take. It was hard to comprehend, and the longer he tried to think about it, the more unsettled he became. He shoved everything to the back of his head, he didn’t want to deal with that now. Hell, he didn’t want to deal with it later, but he knew he’d have to. It might as well be uncharted territory for him. 

Brooding. He was supposed to be brooding. He just needed to immerse himself again and he’d be fine. He sat down on the bench and tried to get back to where he was before he was so rudely interrupted. Just as he was getting settled, the sounds of snapping twigs and crunching leaves disturbed him. 

_ Fuck it, I’m going home _ .

* * *

It was a reasonable assumption that most normal people would be in bed sleeping at 2:30am. 

Sadly, his best friend wasn’t on a normal person sleeping schedule. Of  _ any _ kind. When he’d readied himself for bed earlier, gotten all tucked in and nestled, the last place he thought he would be was walking around the town in the middle of the night. 

More specifically the graveyard. Because why not. 

Wes had been rudely awakened by his phone chirping urgently at him. His first reaction was to pull to covers up over his head and groan. Knowing that wouldn’t do him any good, and it wouldn’t make the notifications stop, he rolled over and fumbled with his phone. The light from the screen temporarily blinded him in the darkness of his bedroom. Once he’d blinked away the halos from his eyes, he squinted at the screen. 

From Robert :

_ hey _

_ hey wes _

_ wes _

_ come outside _

_ im outside ur house _

_ don’t make me knock _

_ i will knock _

_ i know ur awake _

_ cmon itll be fun _

_ weeeeeees _

Cursing under his breath, he typed out a quick message just to get Robert to stop sending four word clusters. 

To Robert :

_ Ok ok, fine. I’ll be out in 5. _

Groaning again, Wes rubbed at his eyes to get rid of any sleep clinging to them. Forcing himself out of the comfort of his bed, he searched around for an available pair of pants and a shirt. He was tempted to not bother with his hair, but he also didn’t want it flying in his face. Muttering under his breath, he stumbled into his bathroom and put up his hair as lazily as he could, using a little water to smooth everything down. 

He didn’t worry about writing a note out to Amanda, he couldn’t imagine this being an all night adventure. Grabbing the essentials and a light jacket, he shuffled out of the house, locking the door behind him. Wes blinked slowly at Robert, who looked far more awake than anyone should at…he looked at his phone. 2:07am.  _ Christ, why did I agree to this. _

“Hey.” Robert greeted. He was standing casually at the end of the walkway, hands in pockets, leading up to Wes’ home. He was dressed like he usually was, and looked more awake than anyone had a right to be at this hour. The only thing new tonight was the leash that trailed from Robert’s jacket pocket to Betsy. Her little feet tapped against the concrete, waiting for him to walk over. 

“Hey.” Wes’ voice sounded rougher than normal, but he blamed that on waking up minutes ago. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, but realized his mistake as he walked over. He couldn’t possibly pet Betsy with his hands constrained by his jacket. Hoping to right his grievous wrong, he squatted down and took his hands  _ out _ of his pockets. Wes scrunched up his face as the energetic pup tried to lick his face. He did his best to distract her with head scratches, which seemed to appease her. 

He glanced up at Robert, giving Betsy belly rubs since she flopped over. “At least someone’s excited to see me.” 

Robert grunted in response. “This is my excited face.” He looked as grumpy as he always did. Clicking his tongue, Betsy quickly rolled over and stood at attention. Robert nodded his head in a vague direction. “Let’s go.” He started walking before Wes had a chance to acknowledge him. 

Wes took a couple of long strides to catch up to Robert, but it wasn’t like the man was walking at a quick pace. Actually, it seemed more like Betsy was leading than Robert was. “So, where are we going?” The silence stretched out and Robert didn’t appear as if he’d answer any time soon.  _ Right _ . Robert hated small talk, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to tell Wes where they were going. Just like Robert held the overlook destination secret. 

Things like this were what frustrated Wes to no end. It was a perfectly reasonable question to ask when a friend invited you out at a god awful hour of the night. It required a simple answer, he’d even have accepted  _ ‘it’s a surprise’ _ . But to receive no answer at all was…irksome. Wes got it, Robert wanted to keep a certain air of mystery around him. Hell, he’d even accepted this to a point. One doesn’t make extreme personal growth in a week, and Robert was no exception. It was a process, Wes needed to remember that. 

A light breeze drifted by them and Wes once again put his hands in his jacket pockets. He caught a clean and spicy scent on the air, realizing after a moment it had come from Robert. He really was trying to have a better relationship with existence. Wes had noticed, the few times he’d seen Robert out and about, the man appeared clean and reasonably groomed. That’s a huge step in getting back on your feet. Wes could speak from experience that putting in the energy to do simple tasks like showing or eating, can really feel like climbing a mountain when you’re not in a good place. It’s just not worth the effort. 

He at least had Amanda to help him out of his slumps when it got really bad, and even then it was incredibly difficult. He couldn’t even imagine having to pull himself out of a hole alone. Wes was grateful that Robert had a few people in his corner to help him out. He only hoped that Robert would know to ask for help if he needed it. 

Why did that make a knot form in his gut? 

Pushing the thought away, he decided that if he was going to be out and about at this time in the morning, he might as well enjoy it. It was peacefully quiet out, save for the insects that sang at night. Betsy’s claws tapped along the paved path they were on, stopping every so often to sniff at a bush or a wooden sign. Wes guessed that the two had traveled along this path many times before, Robert didn’t even need to give Betsy direction as to where they were going. 

They were far enough away from the neighborhood now that he didn’t recognize the area. He’d have to look at a map of trails around where he lived, they hadn’t left the path they were on. The only deviation they’d made was to go right when the path split. Wes tried to imagine where they could be, and had a general sense of the direction they were going. He thought they might have been headed in the direction of the movie theatre, but he wasn’t sure. 

The woods began to thicken as they continued on and fog began to crawl across the path. Robert and Besty didn’t seem at all concerned, but that didn’t make Wes feel any better. Out of instinct, he made sure his hands were available in case he needed to defend himself. Somewhere off in the woods there was a shriek, the sound making Wes flinch. He knew what made the sound, but it never failed to startle him. “Damn owl…” He muttered under his breath. 

Wes was beginning to get concerned that he’d been thrust into a stereotypical horror movie. Robert was luring him deep into the woods with the guise of a pleasant walk in the middle of the night. He’d wait for his chance and then bam! Wes’ organs were harvested and being sold on the black market. The only witness to the murder would be Betsy, and she’d never tell another soul. The vision was solidified in his mind as they reached a clearing in the trees and discovered they’d been walking towards… 

The graveyard. 

They stopped walking and Wes raised an eyebrow at Robert. The only response he got was a shrug, a small smirk playing on Robert’s lips. He rolled his eyes. “I hope you didn’t bring me here to harvest my organs.” Wes looked out at the sight in front of him and decided that it was beautiful in a macabre way. “I can guarantee they’re not in any better shape than the last time.” 

Robert snorted, and followed Betsy as she started walking again. “I have a feeling if I got into a knife fight with you,  _ I’d _ end up being the one bleeding.” He looked at Wes, face serious and grim. “I’m not going to take on prey that can kill me, Wes. It’s too much work. I like the thrill of the hunt, not a fight to the death. I did that once, wasn’t pleasant.” 

_ Sounds like story time _ . Wes looked surprised, giving Robert an opening. “Oh? What happened?” 

A grin stretched Robert’s face. “Back when I was living day to day, backpacking and relying on the kindness of strangers, I found myself in a small remote village somewhere in eastern Europe. Couldn’t really place where I was, just knew that everyone spoke a language that I didn’t.” Robert kept an eye on Betsy, slowing down his pace so she had plenty of time to sniff around. “Hitched a ride with an old man who was selling different meats at the market. Spoke enough broken English that I managed to get him to house me for the night. Only thing I had to do was help him get dinner for the night. That meant hunting.” 

Wes nodded along, letting Robert know he was keeping track and paying attention. 

“So he drove us to his home along paths that could barely be considered roads, taking so many winding turns I lost track of where we’d come from. Finally come across a simple log cabin. One of those old two room type deals. He didn’t even stop to introduce me to his wife, just grabbed two riffles and handed one to me.” Robert slowed down to a stop, Betsy looking as happy as could be. She sat down at his feet, tongue lolling out. “He takes me out into the woods around his home. It was nothing but woods, real middle of nowhere. No clue what we were supposed to be hunting, he’d said something, but I didn’t understand what it was. I was looking around for deer, or rabbits, hell even squirrels would have been comforting, but there was nothing. Not even chirping birds. Then, a loud shriek pierced the forest, like the one we just heard.” 

“You heard a screech owl?” Wes drawled, crossing his arms with a raised eyebrow. Robert would have to try harder than to scare him with a common bird. 

Robert huffed, “A screech owl on steroids. Could practically feel the sound vibrating my bones.” He made his point by tapping his chest. “Old man didn’t seem one bit concerned, going towards the noise, rather than running from it. Not knowing what else to do, I followed behind. Every snap of twigs and leaves pulling my attention away from whatever made that noise. Then, we saw a shadow among the trees.” Robert mimicked aiming a rifle in the distance. “The old man took the first shot. He hit it and it screamed, turning towards us and started to charge.” His face grew grim. “I was rooted to the spot when I saw it. It was the size of a huge bear, head of an owl, and covered in feathers. It was huge, but it moved fast, and I almost didn’t take a shot at it. It was practically on me by the time I remember to fire, and I got it right through the heart. Damn thing didn’t just drop, it bowled me over and I was pinned under it as it died. Monster was so big I had to wiggle my way out from under it as the old man held up what he could.” 

Wes whistled, “Sounds like quite the ordeal.” Maybe not the scariest story Robert had ever told him, but not bad either. Seriously, the man should write horror stories. He’d make a fortune. 

“It was. Ruined my favorite shirt at the time cause the blood wouldn’t come out.” Robert grumbled. “Still don’t know what that thing was, but it tasted good. Needless to say, as soon as the old man drove me back into town the next morning, I got the hell out of that area as fast as I could. Never went back either.” Robert started walking again when Besty began to trot ahead of them. 

They were making their way around the graveyard, not going into it. That made Wes feel a little better. “You don’t know what it was? That doesn’t sound like you, I thought you knew everything about cryptids.” 

“It’s not like the internet existed back then and I could just hop on a computer and search google.” Robert countered. “I asked around that area, no one had heard of such a monster.” 

Wes chuckled. “Probably because it hadn’t been popularized yet.” Robert’s gaze shot to him and looked positively deflated. It made him giggle. “Sorry, that was mean of me.” Wes couldn’t feel bad about it though. The look on Robert’s face was worth it. “You don’t strike me as a guy who would be into tabletop.” 

“Of course I’m into tabletop.” Robert’s expression and tone became sultry. “I find my partners quite enjoy it too. Well…none of them have ever complained.” 

“Oh my god,  _ gaming _ !” Wes blurted as his cheeks burned. “Tabletop gaming, Robert…jesus.” He groaned in embarrassment, rubbing his hands down his face. He heard Robert laugh and shot him a glare around his fingers. “I fuckin’ hate you.” 

Robert’s laugh dissolved into giggles. “No you don’t.” He waited a moment to regain his breath before he spoke again. “You make it too easy to rile you up. What happened to the Wes I met at the park?” 

He sighed, letting his head fall back. He briefly took in the clear night sky, the stars and moon bright. “You’re not the only one who can put on a mask…” Wes could see Robert looking at him out of the corner of his eye, and he shook his head. That’s not something he wanted to get into tonight. He went with a partial truth instead. “I thought it would be fun to mess with both you and Craig. Needless to say I was quite entertained.” 

Robert snorted. “He looked about three seconds away from shitting himself.” He turned his attention back to Betsy, a furrow pulling at his brow. “How serious were you about the choke thing?” 

Wes shrugged, easily keeping pace with Robert and Betsy. “I wasn’t lying if that’s what you’re asking.” His attention was drawn away when Betsy whined, and stopped dead on the path. 

“What is it girl?” Robert asked, looking on high alert now. His eyes were scanning the area, trying to find what had startled his dog. His gaze drifted over to the cemetery, and stuck there. His posture stiffened immediately. 

Wes’ followed his gaze and he almost froze in place. “ _ Robert _ .” He hissed under his breath. His arms fell loose to his sides. He didn’t know  _ what _ he could do against something like that, but… 

There, trotting among the gravestones, was a giant white wolf. It seemed oblivious to them, weaving around the markers. It appeared to be by itself, which was weird, right? Didn’t wolves always travel in packs? But then again, wolves didn’t usually come this far into human civilization. At least he thought so. He didn’t actually know a lot about wolves and their behavior. 

They watched as the wolf made it’s way closer to them and the path they were on. As it approached the path, it started to slow down. It was silent when it reached the gravel, and stopped in the middle of the trail. The wolf then looked at them, really  _ looked _ at them. Like it was more than just a wolf that was looking at them. The bright intelligence in it’s golden eyes spoke volumes that it was not a normal animal. It was also bigger than what he thought a wolf should be. 

It stood there, watching them for what felt like an eternity. Then without much fanfare, it turned away and continued towards the forest, disappearing between the trees. Wes and Robert stood stock still in the aftermath of the encounter. The night around them had become deadly quiet, just breathing sounded too loud to his ears. Letting out a slow breathe, Wes relaxed. He didn’t think it was coming back. 

“Please tell me I wasn’t the only one who saw that.” Wes’ voice was barely above a whisper. 

Robert didn’t say anything, instead he walked forward towards where the wolf crossed the path. Wes caught up in a couple of strides, curious what was going through the other man’s mind. When they reached the spot where the animal had passed through, Robert stopped, crouched down and looked around at the ground. Betsy snuffled around the area as well. 

“There aren’t any tracks.” Robert murmured after a moment. He reached out and touched the ground where the large animal had passed through soft earth. The light pressure left imprints behind. “Something that big should have left tracks, and there’s nothing here.” He grunted as he stood back up, looking at the woods with trepidation. 

“Was…was that a cryptid?” Wes asked, feeling a nervous tremor down his spine. 

Robert pursed his lips. “Don’t know.” He clicked his tongue and turned Betsy around, heading for home. “Wasn’t a normal wolf whatever it was.” 

Wes would have been lying if he said he wasn’t relieved to be heading back to the neighborhood. “So we have no idea if that was a blessing or a curse…” With any luck, that was a benevolent spirit and not a malevolent one. Either way, he considered it a win because they didn’t get eaten. Wolf or not, he hoped he never had an encounter with it ever again. 

It was a quiet walk back, aside from Betsy’s nails tapping. Wes was starting to drain, not having gotten much sleep before he was dragged out of bed. Well, dragged was a bit of an exaggeration…he willingly left his bed to come out. He was thinking about how wonderful it would be to finally slip into the sweet dark abyss again when Robert caught his attention. 

“You’ve been quiet tonight.” Robert glanced over at him before returning his gaze forward. 

Wes chuckled softly. “I thought you liked the silence?” 

Robert huffed, looking annoyed. “I do.  _ You’re _ not this quiet normally.” 

“I didn’t realize I talked that much.” He sighed, trying more for cheerful, but he thought it fell flat on its face. “It’s nothing really, just…Amanda leaves for college next week.” 

The other man hummed in acknowledgment. “She’s not going away forever you know. She’ll be back on break before ya know it.” 

Wes smiled, “No, you’re right.” He rubbed the back of his neck and let out a slow breath. “I know she’ll be fine and flourish, she’s wanted to go to this school since she knew college existed. It’s more going to be an adjustment for me, she’s never been away from home for more than a long weekend…” After the words left his mouth, he immediately kicked himself. Why didn’t he ever think before he spoke? Talking about his daughter going off to college was probably not the best conversation topic. 

“You’ll be fine.” Robert said with certainty. “You got friends here, and if you go back to your Art, you’ll have that too.” He glanced over at Wes. “Facetime and cell phones exist for a reason.”

He let out a puff of air and smoothed down his jacket. “Yeah…” 

“That’s not the only thing bothering you.” It wasn’t a question, but a statement. “Yeah, your kid’s going off to college, but there’s something else.” 

Wes had to stop himself from groaning. How the hell was Robert so good at that? It was both impressive and bothersome. It was also annoying that he was obvious enough that Robert would pick up on him. He let out a heavy sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. “God damnit…” 

Robert chuckled. “I’ve been around you long enough to know when something’s bothering you. You’re good at burying it, but I’m better at spotting it.” 

“Have I mentioned lately that I hate you?” Wes shot back. 

“Maybe once or twice.” 

“Ugh.” He smoothed down his hair, giving himself just a few extra seconds of time. Sighing again, he answered. “I told Craig what happened.” 

That caught Robert by surprise. “You told him?” 

“S’not like I had much of a choice after my behavior at the park.” Wes grumbled. 

That was a particularly awful conversation. Craig, bless him, had immediately offered to go and rip Joseph a new one. He reassured his bro that he’d already taken care of that, many weeks ago. There was no reason to go digging that up again. It took a little bit of creative persuasion, but he managed to talk Craig down. He had River to take care of, after all, it had been an eventful morning for all three of them. Wes had been grateful to collapse in his own hallway and not somewhere on the way home. 

“Besides, Craig’s my bro. If I was gonna tell anyone, it would have been him…though I would have preferred it not come up at all.” They were getting close to the cul-de-sac, and soon enough their late evening/early morning walk would be over. “I never mentioned you, if that’s what you’re worried about.” Wes tagged on, looking over at Robert. 

Robert made a noncommittal noise. “I wasn’t, but I appreciate it anyway.” He started to slow his pace as they approached the main sidewalk of the neighborhood. Betsy looked like she was finally losing steam. “What did you think of your first introduction to ghost hunting?” 

Wes made a surprised noise in his throat. “Is  _ that _ what this was?” He supposed it made more sense now why they were out in the middle of the night, and walking around the graveyard no less. He shouldn’t have been surprised, he did tell Robert to invite him to go ghost hunting. “Well, I think it went pretty good. Still not sure what we saw, but it was fun.” 

Robert hummed. “Would you…be interested in going again sometime?” He was watching Wes with interest, but his features were carefully crafted into apathy. 

He didn’t know why Robert still played this game with him, but old habits are hard to break he supposed. Better to be prepared for disappointment than to hope for something that never happens. Wes thought for a moment, hating that he fell into that category as well.  _ Whelp _ . He noticed Robert’s tight grip on the leash. No reason to make him wait longer for an answer than he needed too. 

Wes shrugged. “Sure. It was interesting.” He said honestly. “Plus the company helps so…as long as that’s included I’d definitely go again.” He smiled wide as Robert huffed out a laugh. 

“Yeah, yeah…” Robert slowly walked towards his home, Betsy following along behind. He paused, then turned to look at Wes. “Hey…thanks for coming out with me.” He seemed unsure of himself, even as he spoke. 

Right, he’s not used to doing ‘normal people things’. Which included this apparently. Wes smiled warmly at him, hoping to get his point across. “No problem. Thanks for dragging me out, it was fun. See ya around?” 

Robert nodded, and appeared to relax. “Yeah, sure.” He looked like he was going to say something else, then thought better of it. He waved goodbye, before unlocking the door to his home and disappearing inside. 

Wes returned the wave, waiting until the door had closed before going home himself. This was…certainly unexpected. He hadn’t been lying when he said he’d had fun, despite whining about it in the beginning. The company was great, and getting out and just walking around was good for him. He was a little worried though, Robert still didn’t look like he’d been sleeping. Wes thought he’d been taking better care of himself, but apparently sleep wasn’t on that list. Or, maybe it was fleeting. He could just ask, like a responsible adult, but he also didn’t want to bother Robert. 

It was also too much effort when it was this early in the morning. That was a problem for future Wes to deal with. His only thought was his bed and going to sleep. His movements were mechanical as he plodded to his room, stripped down and crawled under the covers. He’d shoot a text to Robert in the morning, granted he remembered to do it. He could put a quick reminder in his phone, but he just couldn’t muster the energy at the moment. 

As sleep weighed on him, he vaguely wondered if Robert was getting any sleep now and hoped he was. Man didn’t get enough sleep, and would probably feel better if he did. That was an interesting thought, a less grumpy Robert. Wes hoped he got to see that one day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't forgotten about this story, I'm gonna keep plodding on. Life has gotten very busy so posting will be sporadic. I'm also terrible about getting to comments, and I appreciate every single one. I will get to them...eventually.


End file.
